Gonzalo Montiel’s penalty saw Sevilla beat AS Roma 4-1 on penalties to win 2022-23 UEFA Europa League title.
Paulo Dybala fired Roma into a half-time lead with his 35th minute strike from Gianluca Mancini’s through ball.
Mancini then flicked Jesus Navas’ 55th minute cross into his own net to pull Sevilla level, before the Spanish team saw a 75th minute penalty overturned by Video Assistant Referee after a foul on Lucas Ocampos.
The match eventually was settled 4-1 on penalties as Mancini and Roger Ibanez missed for Roma which led Montiel to score the winning penalty and clinch a record seventh Europa League title for Sevilla, just months after he did the same for Argentina in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final.
Having entered this final with an 100% record in their six previous UEFA Europa League Finals, Sevilla weathered an early attack from Roma which culminated in a corner being cleared, despite Nemanja Gudelj and Ibanez colliding as they rose to head the ball as it flew into the box.
Either team thereafter were unable to create clear-cut chances in the opening 11 minutes, although play was briefly paused in the seventh minute as objects were thrown towards the left corner by Roma supporters as Ivan Rakitic tried to take a corner-kick.
Sevilla’s Yassine Bounou however made a crucial save in the 12th minute as Leonardo Spinnazola met Zeki Celik’s pullback pass and turned his shot onto goal, only for the Moroccan to punch the shot away from goal.
Mancini was lucky to not hand Sevilla a 23rd minute lead after he knocked down Navas’ pass into the path of Oliver Torres, yet the midfielder smashed his shot high over the bar.
Tammy Abraham meanwhile tried to win a sneaky 32nd minute penalty by deliberately positioning himself close to Gudelj’s lobbed clearances, which caused the pair to collide with the England international going down but VAR ruled out a penalty kick.
Roma who are managed by Jose Mourinho – with the Portuguese yet to lose an European Final – subsequently took the lead two minutes later, as Mancini played through Dybala to rifle in across Bounou to put the Italian club ahead.
Fernando missed a huge chance to restore parity for Sevilla in the 43rd minute as he headed over the bar from a corner-kick, before Pellegrini was booked for simulation up the other end for Roma a minute after diving to ground after he found himself squeezed from Dybala’s cutback pass.
Roma eventually clung onto their lead into the half-time break following a number of clearances from Sevilla crosses, during which Rakitic saw a shot in the sixth minute of injury-time rebound off the right post.
Ahead of the second-half, Sevilla manager – Jose Luis Mendilibar opted to drop Torres and Bryan Gil for Suso and Erik Lamela respectively, which saw the six-time winners enjoy a more energetic start once the second-half commenced.
Mendilibar’s double substitution gamble eventually paid off in the 55th minute as Navas won the ball up the right and swung in a short cross, which Mancini turned into his own net from close range despite Ocampos thinking he had scored the equalising goal.
Mancini’s own goal also meant that Sevilla are the first team to score against a team managed by Mourinho in the final of any UEFA competition since Celtic in the 2003 UEFA Cup Final, in which Henrik Larsson scored twice for the Hoops in an eventual 3-2 defeat to Mourinho’s then Porto team.
Roma quickly regrouped and won a 65th minute penalty after Rakitic fouled Celik, from which the set-piece was delivered into box and Abraham flicked onto goal and Bounou crucially blocked, only for Ibanez to drag his rebound shot wide of the bottom-right corner.
Ocampos won Sevilla a 75th minute penalty after he drew a foul from Ibanez inside the box, which referee – Anthony Taylor awarded until VAR overturned his decision following a monitor check, adjudging Ocampos to have dived after making the most of Ibanez’s contact.
Roma six minutes later saw their own penalty appeals denied after Nemanja Matic’s shot was handballed by Fernando who used his left arm, before substitute, Andrea Belotti volleyed wide a minute later from a free-kick.
Neither team eventually were able to find a breakthrough goal to prevent extra time, despite Youssef En-Nesyri heading over in the second minute of injury time, before Suso saw a last-minute shot blocked and Fernando rifled wide of the bottom-left corner on the rebound.
The first-half of extra-time proved uneventful aside from Roma breaking the record for most yellow cards awarded to a single team in any Europa League Final, after substitute Nicola Zalewski became their sixth player to be booked after he committed a 105th minute foul.
Mourinho consequently opted to make changes ahead of the second-half of extra time as Spinnazola and Pellegrini were substituted for Diego Llorente and Stephan El Shaarawy respectively.
Sevilla though started brightly with an 107th minute corner which Gudelj rifled wide on the rebound from outside of the box, after intercepting a sloppy block.
The remainder of extra time proceeded to pass with little quality aside from tensions on the touchline boiling over between both teams, which required fourth official – Michael Oliver to defuse the tense atmosphere as the match ultimately headed to penalties.
This draw also marked the first European final involving a team managed by Mourinho to go to a penalty shootout, with all five previous finals in which Mourinho had been involved in as a manager having been settled either in normal time or by the conclusion of extra time at latest.
Ocampos and Marcao struck early in the shootout either side of Bryan Cristante’s penalty to put Sevilla 2-1 ahead, which became 3-1 when Rakitic scored their third kick either side of misses from Mancini and Ibanez.
Montiel stepped up and saw his initial penalty hit the right post as he attempted to score the winning penalty, only for VAR to adjudge Rui Patricio off his line and Montiel subsequently smashed in the retake to claim a seventh Europa League title for Sevilla.
Mourinho in-turn lost an European final for the very first time as a manager as Roma failed to win this competition for the first time, having missed out in 1990-91 Final to Inter Milan.
Teams
Sevilla: Yassine Bounou, Jesus Navas (Montiel 95′), Loic Bade, Nemanja Gudelj (Marcao 120+8′), Alex Telles (Rekik 95′), Fernando (Jordan 120+9′), Ivan Rakitic, Lucas Ocampos, Oliver Torres (Suso 45′), Bryan Gil (Lamela 45′), Youssef En-Nesyri
Substitutes: Marko Dmitrovic, Alberto Flores, Gonzalo Montiel, Karim Rekik, Tanguy Nianzou, Marcao, Joan Jordan, Papu Gomez, Manu Bueno, Suso, Rafa Mir, Erik Lamela
Roma: Rui Patricio, Gianluca Mancini, Chris Smalling, Roger Ibanez, Zeki Celik (Zalewski 90′), Bryan Cristante, Nemanja Matic (Bove 120′), Leonardo Spinazzola (Llorente 105′), Lorenzo Pellegrini (El Shaarawy 105′), Paulo Dybala (Wiljnaldum 68′), Tammy Abraham (Belotti 75′)
Substitutes: Pietro Boer, Mile Svilar, Rick Karsdorp, Diego Llorente, Mady Camara, Georginio Wijnaldum, Edoardo Bove, Nicola Zalewski, Cristian Volpato, Benjamin Tahirovic, Andrea Belotti, Stephan El Shaarawy
Referee: Anthony Taylor (England)
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