Mourinho’s Roma in driving seat as they see off Real Sociedad

AS Roma have the advantage in their Europa League tie against Real Sociedad after they beat the Spanish side 2-0 in their clash at the Stadio Olimpico on Thursday evening.

Roma were handed a tricky round of 16 clash against Socidedad after they beat RB Salzburg 2-1 on aggregate in the playoff round. 

However, Mourinho’s men will now feel confident in their chances of progressing to the quarter-final after securing a perfect first-leg result at home. 

Roma had lost to another Spanish opposition Real Betis earlier in the competition, but they came into the match on the back of a 1-0 win over Juventus in Serie A. 

Their manager Mourinho also had a good record at home in the Europa League, with 13 wins out of 15 games prior to the match. 

It appeared that rubbed off on Roma players as they started on the front foot. Their attack paid off as early as the 13th minute, as Stephan El Shaarawy put the home side ahead. 

The former AC Milan man finished off a nice team move, stabbing home from close range following brilliant work from Tammy Abraham. 

The early goal calmed Roma nerves and spelt trouble for Sociedad as their opponents have been solid defensively all season. 

It turned out so as Roma reduced Sociedad to just one shot on target in the opening 45 minutes. 

Mourinho’s men also had a couple of half-chances to double their lead, but they only took a one-goal lead into the break. 

The second half followed a similar pattern, with Sociedad dominating possession but doing nothing with it. 

However, they did have one big chance after Beñat Turrientes set up Mikel Merino with a brilliant ball, but the Spaniard could not hit the target. 

The miss would prove to be costly as Roma doubled their lead three minutes from time through Marash Kumbulla, who headed home from a Paulo Dybala’s cross. 

Kumbulla’s header put Roma in a comfortable position ahead of the second leg at Anoeta next Thursday.