Europa League: Feyenoord take first-leg edge as Roma pay penalty for miss

Mats Wieffer scored a second-half winner to earn Feyenoord a 1-0 home victory over Roma in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final.

The midfielder atoned for conceding a first-half penalty, which was missed by Lorenzo Pellegrini, with the only goal of the game in the 53rd minute. After an incisive run and cut-back from winger Oussama Idrissi, Wieffer struck a bouncing half-volley to earn the Dutch league leaders a narrow advantage for the return leg in Rome next week.

It turned the night into a triumph for the 23-year-old, capped by the Netherlands for the first time last month. Wieffer had conceded a penalty just before half-time after pulling back the Roma striker Tammy Abraham. Pellegrini stepped up but fired his spot-kick against the post, wasting the chance to take the lead in Rotterdam.The Feyenoord captain, Orkun Kokcu, and defender Lutsharel Geertruida both had good chances to add to the home side’s score while Roma were denied an equaliser by the slimmest of margins nine minutes after going behind. Roger Ibañez’s header hit the underside of the bar but narrowly failed to cross the line as it bounced down.

José Mourinho’s side, who are chasing a top-four finish in Serie A, suffered two serious injury setbacks. Paulo Dybala went off early, followed in the second half by his fellow forward Abraham, who suffered a shoulder injury. Roma won last season’s inaugural Europa Conference League final between these two sides, but will need a response at the Stadio Olimpico next Thursday to deny their Dutch opponents again.

The winner of this tie will face either Bayer Leverkusen or the Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise in the last four, with those sides contesting their first leg in Germany on Thursday evening.