With another great performance of quality and character, to follow up the success at San Siro (1-0), Roma beat Milan again in the second leg of the Europa League quarter-finals and secured the pass for their fourth semi-final consecutive European elections. It ended 2-1 at the Olimpico thanks to goals from Mancini (once again decisive) and Dybala, while Gabbia’s guest performance was of little use in the final. De Rossi’s team, outnumbered after half an hour due to the red card directed at Celik, will thus find Leverkusen like last year, while Pioli’s men are eliminated with a bitter taste in their mouths.
Twelve minutes on the clock and the Giallorossi immediately take the lead at the first real opportunity: it all starts from a super play by Mancini who controls a difficult ball and offers it to Pellegrini, the captain hits a sensational post with a nice right-footed shot from outside, then on the Mancini himself was rejected to confirm the 1-0 goal. The guests tried to respond in the 20th minute, when Loftus-Cheek shot from inside the area after a low cross from Musah, Mancini himself deflected it and the ball crashed against the crossbar, saving Svilar. Roma breathes a sigh of relief and on the other side, just a couple of minutes later, they strike for the second time with Dybala: the Argentine collects a short clearance from Gabbia, places it on the left and with his usual set-piece he catches it the furthest corner where Maignan doesn’t reach.
Milan seem dazed but try to regain morale after half an hour, when Celik gets a direct red for a foul on Leao and forces the Giallorossi to continue with numerical inferiority. Pioli’s men change pace and in the 36th minute they bring another threat into the Roma area, with a header from Loftus-Cheek providentially blocked by Spinazzola. In the second half the field opens up for the home team’s counterattacks, who in the 58th minute start to scare their opponents again with Spinazzola, launched at speed and blocked by Maignan.
A handful of minutes later Abraham also tries, imprecise in front of goal after a low cross from El Shaarawy from the right. In the final, Milan tried everything and in the 85th minute closed the gap with a goal from Gabbia, who headed a cross from Leao to rekindle a little hope for his team. But that’s not all, Roma are in the semi-finals.