In the first final of the newly created European Cup in Tirana, Albania, Rome defeated their Dutch opponent Feyenoord Rotterdam 1-0 (1-0) on Wednesday evening (May 25th, 2022). Nicolo Zaniolo (32nd) scored the goal for Italy’s first success in the European Football Cup in a Uefa competition.
Rome coach Jose Mourinho won his fifth European Cup title after two Champions Leagues, one Europa League and one Uefa Cup and drew level with record holder Giovanni Trapattoni.
Slow start from both teams
In front of 22,000 spectators, Rome started, as expected, in Mourinho style: defensive, expectant. The otherwise rather turbulent Feyenoord was initially concerned with avoiding mistakes. So chances in round one remained in short supply.
In addition, the Romans had to deal with a setback because play designer Henrikh Mkhitaryan had to be replaced after a good quarter of an hour with an injury.
Zaniolo on hand for AS Roma
The lead for the AS finally fell out of the blue. Feyenoord defender Gernot Trauner made a high cross into the penalty area. Zaniolo reacted at lightning speed from behind, took the ball with his chest and pushed it past the goalkeeper who ran out to make it 1-0.
During the break, Feyenoord coach Arne Slot seemed to have released the handbrake. Rotterdam came back onto the field with a great deal of energy and courage. But twice the post (47th, 50th) and goalkeeper Rui Patricio held the lead for the Italians in a stormy start to round two.
Feyenoord hits aluminum twice
The Mourinho team seemed surprised at first and could hardly free themselves from Rotterdam’s pressure for almost twenty minutes. However, the Dutch didn’t want to score the redeeming goal and the AS gradually regained their defensive stability.
In the closing stages, Lorenzo Pellegrini could have clarified earlier with a counterattack (85′). In the end, however, the Italians were able to celebrate a historic triumph in two respects because it was a premiere.
As the winner, AS Roma is automatically qualified for the next season in the Europa League, which is higher in class – the Italians had already done that before with sixth place in the domestic Serie A.
Source: db