Roma attacker Stephan El Shaarawy praised his team’s maturity after they dismantled Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0 this evening.
The Giallorossi ran riot against the Ukrainian side in the first leg of their Europa League tie. Midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini opened the scoring in the first half before El Shaarawy and Gianluca Mancini registered two additional quick-succession goals late in the match.
It marked the first time that “il Faraone” was on the scoresheet for Roma since completing his return to the club in January.
“I kept thinking about scoring, I wanted that first goal to come really bad,” smirked El Shaarawy when chatting with Sky Sport after the match.
“I tried not to think about it too much, I kept persevering and stayed patient and finally it came. I’m very, very happy. We showed a lot of maturity, character and determination tonight.”
He added, “The manager warned us that this is a tough team, but this result will give us confidence. This tie isn’t over, though, another difficult one awaits us next week.”
