Gonzalo Montiel was the penalty hero once more as Sevilla made it a magnificent seven in the Europa League and handed Roma boss Jose Mourinho his first defeat in a European final.
Mourinho was on track to become the most decorated European manager in history with six trophies when Paulo Dybala defied an ankle injury he has been carrying for the last month to put the Serie A side in front in a scrappy affair in Budapest.
Gianluca Mancini, who had provided the assist for Dybala, put into his own net as the game finished 1-1 after 120 minutes then missed from the spot, as did Roger Ibanez, before Montiel scored the decisive penalty to secure a 4-1 shootout win for the Spaniards.
The Argentinian, who scored the winning spot-kick in last year’s World Cup final, initially missed from 12 yards but Rui Patricio coming off his line before the ball was struck meant a retake, and Montiel this time made no mistake.
While Sevilla claimed a record-extending seventh Europa League crown and qualify for next season’s Champions League, they had to do it in ugly fashion, with regular stoppages in play and players and coaches on both sides spoken to or warned by referee Anthony Taylor and fourth official Michael Oliver.
There were few openings as both sides started tentatively while there were regular interruptions, with both benches tetchy from the off, aware of what was at stake, and keeping Taylor on his toes.
The English referee had his first major decision when checking VAR after his countryman Tammy Abraham took a blow to the head but Nemanja Gudelj winning the ball meant no penalty was given.
The game came to life when Ivan Rakitic was dispossessed in his own half and while Sevilla’s defence seemed to anticipate a foul being given, Mancini took advantage and his through ball allowed Dybala to slot across Bono in the 35th minute. Amid howls of protest from Sevilla, substitute Rafa Mir was booked.
Lorenzo Pellegrini was cautioned for diving in the area and the constant breaks in play meant seven minutes were tagged on at the end of the first half, when Rakitic’s thundering effort from 25 yards thudded low off Patricio’s left-hand post.
Erik Lamela and Suso were brought on after the interval as Sevilla flew out of the traps, penning back Roma in their own half. The pressure told in the 55th minute as Mancini turned into his own net as he sought to stop Lucas Ocampos from latching on to Jesus Navas’ devilish whipped cross.
Sevilla were shown plenty of the ball but Roma almost scored again as a free-kick from Dybala, in his last involvement of the night before he was substituted, saw Abraham stab at Bono and amid a goalmouth scramble, the ball fell to an off-balance Ibanez, who sliced the rebound wide.
Ibanez’s night might have gotten worse when, with a quarter of an hour left, Ocampos went over the Roma defender’s trailing leg and Taylor pointed to the spot. With Mourinho and his coaches incandescent on the touchline, Taylor rescinded the penalty after a VAR check highlighted minimal, if any, contact.
It was Roma’s turn to appeal for a penalty soon after when the ball hit Fernando’s arm by his side. Taylor was unconvinced and then, not for the first time, headed to the Roma bench brandishing his yellow card.
While the names piled up in the official’s notebook, Roma almost had the last laugh but Andrea Belotti, on for Abraham, miscued a volley after a cute free-kick over the wall.
Fernando flashed wide as the match went to an additional 30 minutes, where both teams seemed reluctant to gamble.
Mourinho was booked for one of several confrontations with fourth official Oliver but after little action, Chris Smalling almost won it at the death but his looping header in the 10th minute of time added on from a corner came back off the bar.
The shootout started with Ocampos and Lamela netting either side of Bryan Cristante doing so for Roma but it was first blood to Sevilla when Mancini’s thunderous effort came back off a diving Bono’s legs.
Ibanez then saw his effort come back off the post and while Patricio seemed to have given Roma a glimmer when tipping Montiel’s spot-kick on to the post, the Portuguese’s encroachment gave the LaLiga player another chance he did not spurn.
Mauricio Pochettino vows to continue to show belief in Chelsea’s young stars
Mauricio Pochettino promised Chelsea will continue to show belief in their young stars after Mykhailo Mudryk scored his first goal for the club in their 2-0 win against Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Armando Broja, making his first start since injuring his ACL in December, also netted as the visitors gave their most convincing performance yet of the manager’s reign and ended a run of three Premier League games without a goal.
Chelsea took the lead after 18 minutes when Mudryk chested down Levi Colwill’s expertly-flighted cross and nudged the ball past Bernd Leno as the Fulham goalkeeper advanced.
And within a minute it was two, Cole Palmer dispossessing Tim Ream who was careless with the ball at his feet and feeding Broja, who deflected the ball home off Ream’s attempted clearance.
It was a dominant first half from Chelsea with Palmer, making his first Premier League start for the club after impressing in the EFL Cup win against Brighton last week, making a critical difference coming deep to collect the ball and starting the visitors’ attacks.
Ian Maatsen, on at half-time in place of Mudryk, struck a post after the break as Pochettino’s side threatened a third, and it was not until 14 minutes from time that a lacklustre Fulham threatened a response when Robert Sanchez blocked Sasa Lukic’s close-range shot.
Pochettino pointed to the patience the club have shown in waiting for their expensively assembled but young side to come good, particularly Mudryk who finally broke his scoring duck nine months after jointing from Shakhtar Donetsk for £88million.
“The difference (tonight) is the result,” said the manager. “The performance was really good. First half I think we played really well, second half we controlled the game.
“I’m pleased for Mudryk, and for Armando. For Misha because he has scored his first goal in the Premier League and then for Armando, after a long period out he’s scored again. The competition is really good for the team.
“It’s about maturity, adaptation. We need to understand that young people need time, need to settle. Massive change for him when he arrived here. I think when you arrive in a team, it’s not easy to settle because there were too many young players that arrived in a team (that) was not solid.
“They need to add something to the team, to build something important. Always it’s difficult, but it’s about time and to have patience, to trust these guys and these young, talented players, and to build their confidence.
“It’s a massive job. It’s step by step. Sometimes people have not the patience, but for us it’s about being patient. Even when we were losing and when we didn’t win from the beginning of the season, we were calm and kept the belief.
“Now that we’ve won two games in a few days it’s (still) important to stay calm.”
It was the fourth game in a row in which Mudryk had started, having not been in the starting XI for any of Pochettino’s first five matches in charge.
He was withdrawn at half-time with what the manager said was an issue with his quad, but he is expected to be fit for Saturday’s trip to face Burnley.
“He played because he deserved it, and he showed in training that he deserved it,” said the manager. “He was really focused in training and had the confidence to go on the pitch and play.
“Normally it’s the player that needs to show us that we can trust in them.”
Fulham boss Marco Silva reflected on a game in which he felt his team lacked the required aggression as they fell to a third league defeat of the season.
“Disappointing result for us,” he said. “At certain moments, performance-wise as well. They started intense from the first moment, winning some individual challenges that gave the boost they needed.
“Our first half was not aggressive enough on and off the ball. We were sloppy in some moments. We did not bring the dynamic that we should. Even our first pressure didn’t work very well.”
Vincent Kompany is refusing to put any extra emphasis on Tuesday’s trip to face fellow Premier League new boys Luton as his side look to end their winless start to the season.
Kompany has spoken repeatedly about the tough start Burnley have faced – they have already suffered defeats against Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle, Tottenham, and Aston Villa – and many fans have been looking to the postponed trip to Kenilworth Road for a much-needed victory.
But the 37-year-old Kompany said it would do his side no good to treat this match differently to any other.
“It’s a mental exercise for me to really try and make no distinction,” he said. “It’s how I have been brought up, it’s how I know football.
“When you’re at the very top and you underestimate the small sides, you lose points. When you’re at the bottom and you overestimate the big sides…you don’t stand a chance.
“So I want to have consistency in every game, doing what it takes to get a result. I understand Luton is someone we faced last season so we’re looking forward to meeting our old friends again.”
This fixture was originally due to be played in the second week of the season but was postponed while Luton worked to upgrade their ground following promotion and Kompany said he felt the delay had benefited both sides in terms of their improvement since the campaign began.
But while Luton’s work was rewarded with a first win when they beat Everton 2-1 at Goodison Park on Saturday, Burnley have taken only one point from their opening six games.
Results are needed now, but Kompany said there had been no loss of confidence within his squad despite the tough start.
“What we did is we went into this with eyes wide open,” he said. “We did a lot of work on managing expectations.
“I can draw a little bit on my own experience. When you get to a certain level, year one or the first three or four months might not feel straightaway when you feel you belong in a place.
“But they’ll battle themselves through it and then they’ll see soon enough that a lot of these players, most of these players, are good enough to play this at this level and actually enjoy success at this level. But you know you’ve to learn the tough way sometimes.”
Kompany insisted he has not been losing any sleep himself, other than during a brief illness last week.
“No chance, on the contrary,” he said when asked if his own confidence had been dented. “I’ve seen enough to believe in the squad.
“But to the point as well, like I’ve said, I’m conscious that it’s not the words ‘I’m happy’. I’m not happy but I’ve seen enough in terms of habits and how these guys approach it to know that they’ll come out stronger from this. They’ll come out a good team.”
Lyle Foster is likely to go straight back into the side after serving a three-match ban for his late red card at Forest and could bring a much-needed boost to a Burnley side who are the lowest scorers in the league.
Foster had scored two in five for Burnley, also netting for South Africa, before his ban.
“I think he was on a trajectory where he showed good signs to be a good player in this league,” Kompany said.
“I think the guys who filled in did well, but you know when you have someone with momentum, you want to keep him as much as you can involved.
“Hopefully tomorrow we can have the Lyle that we had before the suspension and and then everybody knows he is a threat and he scores goals as well.”
Wales hopeful of arranging friendly against world champions Argentina
Wales are in talks to play world champions Argentina.
Lionel Messi and company have been lined up as potential opponents for the Dragons with Wales keen to play Argentina in Cardiff or Patagonia, where thousands of Welsh emigrants settled in the 19th century.
“There is an ongoing discussion between us and them,” Football Association of Wales chief executive Noel Mooney said about a possible friendly between the two nations.
“We spoke to them in the last few days about playing in Cardiff.
“I met the Argentinian ambassador when he was in Cardiff talking to the Welsh Government.
“I used the opportunity to talk to him about the opportunity for Wales to go down to play in Argentina. He was excited by the idea, although he obviously he doesn’t decide who plays who.”
Wales have played only once at Cardiff’s 74,500-capacity Principality Stadium since 2011 – a friendly against former European and world champions Spain in October 2018 – and many Dragons’ fans dislike the idea of playing at the home of Welsh rugby.
But Wales will return to Principality Stadium should UK and Ireland win their bid to host Euro 2028 in Switzerland next month – and the Dragons qualify for the tournament.
The Principality Stadium is among 10 venues to be used across five nations should the UK and Ireland bid be successful.
Mooney said: “You’d have to assume we’d need to play some matches there before the competition to get spectators and players used to it.
“We haven’t thought that much about it, but what I can say is that we know who we’d like to play if we had to – World Cup winners Argentina.
“We may not be at the very top of their queue, but if you look at Patagonia and the relationship between the two countries it would be great. We’d love to do it.
“There is a connection and history between us and Argentina because of the Patagonian links and the Welsh people who settled there.
“I could feel from the Argentine ambassador that warmth they have behind Wales and I’d love to see Lionel Messi playing in Cardiff.”
Patagonia is at the southern end of Argentina – around 1,000 miles from the capital Buenos Aires – and in 2006 the Wales rugby team played at Puerto Madryn, a city founded by Welsh settlers in 1865.
Wales and Argentina have only met twice before, with their last fixture being a 2002 friendly at the Principality Stadium when Craig Bellamy scored in a 1-1 draw against the South Americans.
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