Feyenoord 1-0 Roma: wasted chances haunt capital club in first leg

A missed penalty and several wasted high quality goalscoring opportunities haunted Roma in their 1-0 defeat to Feyenoord in the first leg of their Europa League tie.

The Giallorossi fell to the Dutch side in Rotterdam this evening as Mats Wieffer's early second half goal was enough for the hosts to take a narrow 1-0 aggregate lead going into next week's return leg in Rome. 

The visitors will undoubtedly feel embittered by the result as they were certainly the better of the two sides over the full 90 minutes. 

Feyenoord didn't register a single shot on target in the first half and seemed unable to breakdown the Italians.

Roma had a chance to take the lead entering the break when they were awarded a penalty in the 43rd minute when Wieffer handled the ball in his area. However, captain Lorenzo Pellegrini's attempt from the spot hit the post as he wasted a golden opportunity to had his team the lead.

The Dutch side would take the lead just moments after the break thanks to a stunning finish by Wieffer. The midfielder connected perfectly on a cross from Oussama Idrissi, who did well to beat Nicola Zalewski.

Less than ten minutes later, Roma's Roger Ibanez nearly leveled the score with his headed attempt but once again the visitors were denied by the post. 

They had another chance fall to them minutes later when Leonardo Spinazzola cut into the area and sent a perfect delivery to Stephan El Shaarawy. However, il Faraone scuffed the shot, wasting yet another solid chance to find the back of the net.

The two sides meet again next week in the Italian capital for the return leg.