José Mourinho did it again! guides Roma through to the Europa League semi-finals

Roma were minutes from Europa League elimination when Paulo Dybala forced extra time against Feyenoord, Stephan El Shaarawy and Lorenzo Pellegrini finishing the job in a 4-1 triumph and they’ll face Bayer Leverkusen in the semi-final..

The Giallorossi needed to overcome the 1-0 first leg deficit from Rotterdam and only had Paulo Dybala and Tammy Abraham on the bench after they went off during that game with injuries, plus Rick Karsdorp was absent. Feyenoord missed Quinten Timber, Mimeirhel Benita and Patrik Walemark. As with the first match, away fans were banned from the stadium due to security fears.

They came out fighting, Lorenzo Pellegrini’s angled drive beaten away at the near post after a counter-attack, then Bryan Cristante’s volley skimmed the upright from 12 yards.

However, they also risked conceding when Alireza Jahanbakhsh pulled back from the right for Sebastian Szymanski, whose tap-in was straight at Rui Patricio.

There was more bad news for Roma, as Gini Wijnaldum went off clutching the back of his thigh, replaced by Stephan El Shaarawy.

Feyenoord had penalty appeals for handball, but the Szymanski header hit Diego Llorente in the face first and then ricocheted onto his shoulder and arm.

Orkun Kokcu saw his daisy-cutter deflected wide by Chris Smalling, while El Shaarawy fired over on the counter when springing the offside trap.

Roma assistant manager Salvatore Foti was sent off for shoving Santiago Gimenez out of the way on the touchline as the ball ran out of play.

Rui Patricio was alert to push a ferocious, dipping Szymanski control and strike over the bar.

Within 15 seconds of the restart, Roma had a huge opportunity with Nicola Zalewski’s wayward cross finding Pellegrini at the near post, denied by a combination of the goalkeeper and the upright.

The Giallorossi equalised on aggregate in chaotic fashion, as after a high press on the goalkeeper it should’ve been a corner, but the throw-in proved decisive anyway, Pellegrini protecting the ball and Spinazzola’s deflected finish squirming through a sea of legs into the far bottom corner.

Paulo Dybala and Tammy Abraham came on for the final surge, and Cristante did have the ball in the net, but only after the referee ruled Abraham had pushed his marker.

Instead, Feyenoord scored moments later to restore their aggregate lead. There was no closing down on the Szymanski cross or the Igor Paixao free header.

It wasn’t over yet, as Dybala gathered from Pellegrini with a sensational first touch, turned on a sixpence and fired into the net from a tricky angle to restore Roma’s lead on the night, drawing 2-2 on aggregate.

Dybala nearly won it in stoppages, his scorcher beaten away after an Abraham knockdown, but the tie went to extra time.

Gimenez blasted over from a very promising position, but Dybala’s powerful curler was beaten away and from the resulting corner a Roger Ibanez header thumped the upright, with Abraham unable to make the most of the rebound.

Roma did take their chance with a well-worked move, as Pellegrini’s through ball sent Abraham down the right and he rolled across low for El Shaarawy to tap in from six yards.

Abraham ran onto a Dybala through ball and saw his shot saved, with Pellegrini firing in the rebound. His celebrations were cut short by the offside flag, but after a long VAR check, it was confirmed Abraham was kept level and the goal stood.

Gimenez received a straight red card after a VAR review in the final moments for his knee-high studs-up tackle on Mancini.

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