Lazio 1-1 Viktoria Plzen (3-2 agg): Romagnoli's late goal sends Lazio past Plzen into the quarter-finals
A 1-1 draw at the Stadio Olimpico enabled Lazio to advance to the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals for the first time since 2018, securing a 3-2 aggregate victory in the round of 16 against Viktoria Plzen, who have not achieved an away win in European knockout stages since 2014.
Plzen required a victory on Italian soil for the first time in 12 years to keep their European hopes alive, and they nearly made an impressive start when Pavel Sulc flicked the ball to Lukas Kalvach, whose powerful volley from just inside the box forced a remarkable save from Ivan Provedel within the first five minutes.
Provedel almost became the antagonist for his team just seven minutes later, as he passed the ball directly to Matej Vydra, whose shot grazed the top of the crossbar.
Lazio finally began to apply significant pressure on the visitors midway through the first half, with Pedro executing a neat turn and shot that required Martin Jedlicka to stretch fully to deflect it around the post. The goalkeeper then had to ensure that Nuno Tavares’ low drive narrowly missed the target.
Despite the lack of major opportunities for the hosts, they ended the first half without scoring for only the third time in nine matches. However, Provedel's save against Lukas Cerv’s clean strike in the dying moments allowed them to go into halftime level.
Just seven minutes into the second half, Provedel was unable to maintain Lazio’s advantage in the tie.
A sustained spell of pressure from Plzen culminated in Rafiu Durosinmi redirecting Kalvach’s cross to Sulc, who emphatically netted his fourth goal of the season in the Europa League.
In response, Marco Baroni’s team besieged the Plzen penalty area, but aside from a weak shot from Gustav Isaksen that went directly to Jedlicka, they struggled to create clear scoring opportunities.
This changed in the final 15 minutes when the player who had previously broken the deadlock in the Czech Republic once again shifted the momentum in Lazio’s favor.
Alessio Romagnoli leaped to head Mattia Zaccagni’s corner against the base of the post and over the line before the goalkeeper could intervene.
Miroslav Koubek's squad sought a goal to extend the match into extra time, but the opportunity eluded them.
Plzen exits the competition with only two victories in their last 19 away matches in the UEFA Europa League, while Lazio advances to compete against Bodo/Glimt in the quarter-finals.
SportsLigue