Leicester fight back to set up Conference League semi with Roma

Leicester City beat PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in the Europa Conference League on Thursday, advancing to the European semi-finals for the first time in club history, where they will meet Jose Mourinho’s Roma.

PSV seized the lead in the quarter-final encounter through Eran Zahavi after a goalless draw in the first leg in England last week.

Late goals from James Maddison and Ricardo Pereira startled the Philips Stadion crowd and pushed Brendan Rodgers’ Premier League side through.

Leicester will face Roma in the final on May 25 in Tirana, after the Serie A side thrashed Norwegians Bodo/Glimt 4-0 in the first leg.

“We are a team that is so young in European football,” Leicester manager Rodgers told BT Sport.

“PSV have an incredible history in Europe and for us we are so young –- these are great experiences for us and I am so happy for the players.”

In the 13th minute, PSV’s Mario Goetze had the game’s first genuine chance, but Kasper Schmeichel made a spectacular one-handed save to keep the German’s volley out of the net.

Harvey Barnes ran clean through on goal for Leicester just minutes later, but the England winger sent his attempt agonizingly wide of the far post.

In the 25th minute, Schmeichel had to be alert again to turn away Mauro Junior’s low attempt, but PSV went ahead soon after.

Goetze intercepted a sloppy pass from Youri Tielemans just outside the Leicester area and sent the ball off to Zahavi, who drilled a superb effort into the bottom corner.

Just after the half-hour mark, Leicester almost equalized, but Jordan Teze deflected Maddison’s shot off the line.

In the second half, the visitors fought hard but had to wait until the 77th minute to equalize.

Ayoze Perez, a substitute, did a fantastic job getting to the byline and pulling the ball back for Maddison, who scored for the 14th time this season.

Before a two-minute pause, a PSV supporter tossed a cup at the ecstatic Leicester players.

With just two minutes of normal time remaining, the Foxes completed their comeback when Pereira pounced on a rebound after Patson Daka’s attempt was saved.

Zaniolo sends Roma through

Roma beat Bodo/Glimt 5-2 on aggregate when Nicolo Zaniolo scored a spectacular hat-trick at the Stadio Olimpico.

After an awful 6-1 thrashing by Bodo/Glimt in the group stage and a defeat last week in an ill-tempered match, the capital club was out for vengeance.

With his 24th goal of the season in the fifth minute, England striker Tammy Abraham gave Roma the perfect start.

Zaniolo scored three superb left-footed goals, all of which came at the end of sweeping home passes.

Marseille also qualified for the final four after Dimitri Payet scored his second goal of the tie in a 1-0 win over PAOK in Greece, securing a 3-1 aggregate victory.

After UEFA began an inquiry for violence before last week’s opening game, Marseille may have to play the home leg of their semi-final behind closed doors.

In the semi-finals, the Ligue 1 team will face Feyenoord, who defeated Slavia Prague 3-1 in the Czech capital following a 3-3 first-leg stalemate, with Cyriel Dessers scoring twice.