Sevilla’s empire just will not fall, not even to the Romans. After three long, exhausting hours, the match that seemed to never end, just like their extraordinary dominance of this competition, came down to a single kick. Or so it seemed: instead, at midnight in Budapest it came down to two of them. Gonzalo Montiel, the man who scored the penalty that won his country the World Cup was entrusted with taking the penalty that would win his club their seventh, yes seventh, Europa League. This time he did not score, his shot saved by Roma’s Rui Patrício.
But Anthony Taylor, the referee who had given and taken away a penalty for Sevilla during the actual game, which had lasted 147 minutes, was advised by the VAR of an encroachment. And so he gave Montiel another chance, and this time the Argentinian found the net, supporters stream down the stands and onto the pitch. At long last, it was all over. At times it had felt like this would never, ever end. But it did, and with history made once more.
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