Leverkusen earn 2-0 victory at Roma in semis first leg
Goals by Florian Wirtz and Robert Andrich gave Bayer Leverkusen a 2-0 advantage over AS Roma in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday.
The newly-crowned Bundesliga champions and German Cup finalists took the lead through Wirtz before the half-hour mark when the midfielder scored with a simple low finish, capitalising on Roma’s defensive error.
Andrich doubled the advantage in the 73rd minute, leaving Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar with no chance when he fired an unstoppable shot from outside the box and under the bar.
The second leg will be played in Leverkusen next Thursday and the winner of the tie will face Olympique de Marseille or Atalanta in the final on May 22 at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.
Marseille and Atlanta play out 1-1 draw
Gianluca Scamacca put the visitors ahead after 11 minutes when Teun Koopmeiners found him unmarked in the box to fire low into the far post for his 16th goal in all competitions this season.
“It’s a good result, we knew the atmosphere would be tough tonight,” Scamacca told Sky Italia. “I just try to do the best I can for my team. My team mates put me in the best conditions to score.”
Chancel Mbemba equalised for Marseille nine minutes later with a superb long-range strike that hit the post and into the net following a corner.
“We had a tactical plan, we knew we had to go after them and press them, make it difficult for them. I think we should have done a bit more,” Marseille midfielder Amine Harit told Canal Plus. “Despite everything I think tonight we had a very good match.”
Both sides missed chances to score further goals in the second half.