Roma booked their spot in the semi-finals of the Europa League courtesy of a 3-1 aggregate victory over Serie A rivals AC Milan in the quarter-finals of the competition.
There are 14 points separating the two sides in the Serie A table, with Milan in second and Roma occupying fifth, but the home team entered the second leg with a 1-0 advantage following an impressive performance at San Siro last week.
Daniele de Rossi‘s side finished the job in front of their own supporters, running out 2-1 winners despite being reduced to 10 men in the first half of the contest when Zeki Celik was sent off.
Roma have never won the Europa League, finishing as runners-up on two occasions, including last season, when they were beaten by Sevilla in the final.
De Rossi’s side will take on Bayer Leverkusen in the semi-finals of the competition, with the Bundesliga outfit navigating their way past West Ham United.
Roma will take on Bayer Leverkusen in the semi-finals
The first chance of the match brought the first goal, with Gianluca Mancini, who scored in the first leg, registering once again, with the centre-back finding the back of the net in the 12th minute from close range after a strike from Lorenzo Pellegrini had come off the woodwork.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek hit the crossbar in the 20th minute, with Milan coming close to levelling, but Roma doubled their advantage on the night and took a 3-0 lead on aggregate in the 22nd minute through Paulo Dybala, with the Argentine finding the far corner with an excellent strike after smart work from Romelu Lukaku.
Milan were given a lifeline in the 31st minute, though, when Celik received a straight red card for a poor challenge on Rafael Leao, who was breaking clear down the left.
The visitors put the pressure on in the latter stages of the half, with the one-man advantage certainly opening up more space, but Roma continued to defend well, and it was an awfully long way back for Milan.
Milan had a half-chance early in the second period through Christian Pulisic, but the United States international’s effort was always rising over the Roma crossbar.
source – Ten-man Roma overcome AC Milan to reach Europa League semi-finals – Sports Mole
