Late goals help Bayer 04 Leverkusen edge past AS Roma in the UEFA Europa League semi-final clash in the BayArena on Friday.

In the first leg of this match in the UEFA Europa League semi final, Leverkusen dominated over AS Roma in their home stadium after Florian Wirtz and Robert Andrich’s goals provided a two-goal cushion before the second leg. Before the match, Xabi Alonso made 3 changes as Florian Wirtz, Robert Andrich and Josip Stanišić made way for Exequiel Palacios, Jonas Hofmann and Adam Hložek respectively. On the other hand, Roma also made 3 changes as Evan Ndicka, Angeliño and Sardar Azmoun made their way into the lineup, replacing Chris Smalling, Rick Karsdorp and Paulo Dybala.

Match Report: As it Happened

First Half

The first half kicked off with initial attacks from the home side as at the mark of the 3rd minute, Adam Hložek made a good run down the left flank and sent a ball across to Jeremie Frimpong, but the ball was intercepted by Angeliño. The corner was delivered by Jonas Hofmann, but Romelu Lukaku did enough to clear it away. Couple minutes later, Lorenzo Pellegrini played a wonderful ball over the top of the Leverkusen defense towards Lukaku, who found himself in a one-on-one situation with Matěj Kovář, but the Czech goalkeeper did enough to stop the Belgian striker from scoring.

At the mark of the 14th minute, Exequiel Palacios found himself at the edge of the box, who tried his luck from there, but Mile Svilar did enough to push it out of the goal. In the 16th minute, Pellegrini sent a cross towards Gianluca Mancini who beat his marker to provide a header, but Kovář made a brilliant save. Injury problems were seen for the Italian side, as Leonardo Spinazzola was forced to come off after picking up an injury.

At the mark of 31st minute, Leverkusen came really close in breaking the deadlock as Granit Xhaka slipped a pass to Exequiel Palacios, who’s shot hit the crossbar. The rebound struck Svilar at the back, almost going across the line, but Evan Ndicka cleared the ball off the line. Few minutes later, Amine Adli shot towards the goal, but was saved by Svilar. The rebound fell towards Adam Hložek, who fancied his chance to score from there, but was denied by the Serbian goalkeeper again.

At the mark of 40th minute, a dangerous ball was delivered to Romelu Lukaku, who won the header, but didn’t manage to keep it on target. The referee, Danny Makkelie, pointed at the spot, after he spotted Jonathan Tah’s challenge on Sardar Azmoun in the box. Leandro Paredes stepped up to take the penalty, and he converted it successfully, sending Kovář in the wrong direction. The first half ended in favor of AS Roma, who had a 0-1 lead, because of a successful spot-kick by Argentine midfielder Leandro Paredes.

Second Half

The second half started with urgent attacks from Leverkusen who wanted to continue with their win streak. But Roma had a brilliant chance to score their second as Nicola Zalewski sent a low cross towards Bryan Cristante, who fancied a shot, but it was saved by Kovář. In the 53rd minute, Leverkusen came close to scoring as Adli took a shot from the edge of the box but it missed the goal by a whisker. Few moments later, Sardar Azmoun took a shot from outside the box to test Kovář, but he saved it comfortably.

Couple minutes later, El Shaarawy drove forward a counter-attack for the away side, who sent a powerful shot, but the Czech goalkeeper did enough to prevent the Italian side from scoring their second. At the mark of the 64th minute, the play came to halt as AS Roma players appealed for handball after they accused Adam Hložek for a handball after a corner. A VAR check confirmed that the ball struck the Czech international’s hands, thereby giving away another penalty to the Italian side.

Leandro Paredes stepped up to take the penalty kick again this time, sending Kovář to the opposite direction. Roma, thus had a 0-2 lead, thereby equalizing the aggregate score by 2-2. The German side then initiated multiple attacks in order to defend their 48 match unbeaten streak record. In the 74th minute, Adli again took a shot aiming for the bottom corner, but his shot just whistled past the goal. The German side took the lead at the mark of 82 minutes in the aggregate score after Slivar misjudged a corner kick, striking Gianluca Mancini in his face, which resulted in an own goal.

In the 88th minute, Frimpong took a shot at goal after defeating his marker, but his shot was saved by Slivar. Finally, at the mark of 90+7 minutes, Xabi Alonso’s men equalized the score after Josip Stanišić scored after a wonderful through ball by Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka. This score meant that the German side now extended their unbeaten streak to 49 matches. 

Bayer 04 Leverkusen will now face Atalanta in the UEFA Europa League final in Aviva Stadium, Dublin on 23rd May, 2024 at 12:30 AM (IST)

Lineups

Bayer 04 Leverkusen: Matěj Kovář; Edmond Tapsoba, Jonathan Tah, Piero Hincapié; Jeremie Frimpong (Josip Stanišić, 90’), Exequiel Palacios, Granit Xhaka, Álex Grimaldo (Odilon Kassounou, 90’); Jonas Hofmann (Florian Wirtz, 81’), Adam Hložek (Patrik Schick, 74’); Amine Adli

AS Roma: Mile Svilar; Evan Ndicka, Gianluca Mancini, Angeliño (Chris Smalling, 81’); Leonardo Spinazzola (Nicola Zalewski, 21’), Bryan Cristante, Leandro Paredes, Lorenzo Pellegrini (Tammy Abraham, 81’); Sardar Azmoun (Edoardo Bove, 72’), Stephan El Shaarawy, Romelu Lukaku

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