KING POWER STADIUM – We can all picture Jose Mourinho raising the one-fingered salute should he become the first coach to lift the Europa Conference League trophy.
After a humdinger of a night at the King Power Stadium, that possibility is still available to him. It is also a measure of how far he has fallen.
Roma have not won a pot of any hue for 14 years and never in Europe, unless you reckon the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup six decades ago when teams moved about the continent by steam train.
Yet Roma’s sense of themselves as a special entity is equal to that of Mourinho. That they come to each other in reduced circumstances is apposite but neither will see the marriage as a union of last resort.
More from Football
West Ham suffer Europa League blow after Frankfurt defeat - ratings, reaction and analysis28 April, 2022
West Ham's exhilarating Europa League run has lifted expectations but Frankfurt hold advantage28 April, 2022
Ronaldo prevents mutiny but football feels secondary at Man Utd amid anti-Glazer protests28 April, 2022Mourinho looked great, as per. Judging by his silver grey top-coat he had obviously popped into the Via del Corso on the way to the airport to protect against England’s plunging temperatures with a garment that perfectly complemented his hair.
No chance of him sliding down the runway as he did at Old Trafford all those years ago in that beauty. Which was a pity since his team provided a moment worthy of it with an opening goal high in pulchritudinous value.
Nicola Zalewski was the architect, delivering a lovely, weighted pass into the stride of his advancing skipper Lorenzo Pellegrini, who left Kasper Schmeichel pawing at the night air.
Leicester had made the brighter start, fully buying into the romance of a first European semi-final despite the third tier nature of the trinket. A packed King Power was augmented by a quadrant enthusiastically colonised by the visiting Roma fans. The corresponding fixture in Rome is already sold out giving a sense of the importance of the club to the citizens of Rome.
Historians speculate the first Romans appeared along the Fosse Way almost 2,000 years ago. The hauteur of the ancient conqueror was carried forward in the swagger of today’s heavily groomed legions, who paraded about the stadium perimeter in their fancy trainers and Moncler jackets like they still ran the place.
If the goal was a thing of refined angles and exquisite touch, Roma spread crudity about the defence. Chris Smalling took us back half a century when laying waste to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in the manner of Norman “bite your legs” Hunter or Ron “the Colossus” Yeats.
Related Stories
Not that Smalling was one-dimensional, rather that he understood his principal function was to stop, not create. There is skill in that too. The desperate nature of his challenge reflected Leicester’s growing authority, born of the rapid rhythms of Jamie Vardy, Ademola Lookman and Marc Albrighton in attack, and prompted neatly by James Maddison.
This kind of evening was made for Maddison, a player who excels in a theatrical atmosphere. He has suffered more than most in this season of disappointment at Leicester. Yet Brendan Rodgers remains invested in his talent and for much of this game he was the well spring of Leicester’s best ideas.
Roma have taken to the Mourinho template, compact and pacey and content to let the opponent dominate possession. Leicester moved the ball quickly yet lacked incision, or rather were denied it by the guerrilla tactics of a team that might have patented the interception.
Rodgers gave it an hour before handing Harvey Barnes and Kelechi Iheanacho the chance to pick the lock. Hey presto, Leicester were level almost immediately, Lookman to the fore in the sea of bodies converging on the ball at the near post.
It was a scruffy goal to concede and would doubtless trigger the Mourinho moan about an undeserved disturbance of his team’s absolute control. Nonsense of course. Leicester had set about Roma like a swarm of locusts in the second half and for their effort alone were worthy of the score.
In keeping with recent European tradition, caution was suddenly absent as both teams chased down a winner. Iheanacho went close. Sergio Oliveira replied for Roma. In each case Rui Patricio and Schmeichel produced world class saves.
And so the contest will be settled in Rome, where the temperatures if not the action should be considerably hotter. Perhaps we have seen the last of the coat if not Mourinho.
from Football | News and analysis from the Premier League and beyond | iNews https://ift.tt/u1vSxkG
Post a Comment