Leicester hit back at Roma to take shine off José Mourinho’s return to England | Europa Conference League

As a first taste of European semi-finals go, this barnstorming match will surely have whet the appetite for Leicester. An own goal from Gianluca Mancini canceled out Roma’s early opener to ensure a grandstand finish in the second leg of this Europa Conference League semi-final at the enormous Stadio Olimpico next Thursday, leaving José Mourinho disappointed on his return to England. Mourinho had reeled off eight of Leicester’s attacking threats in the buildup to this match and his side could not shutout the hosts, who could have yielded victory late on.

For all of Leicester’s early promise, Roma ruthlessly punished them with their first clean sight of goal on 15 minutes. The bubbly wing-back, Nicola Zalewski, surged upfield on a meandering run and after driving inside he spied the run of his captain, Lorenzo Pellegrini, who rattled a shot through the legs of the Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. In the dugout Mourinho, silver hair, gray long coat, was unmoved, instead steadily jotting down a note or two. It was not always the way, however, and the former Tottenham manager was soon crouching on the touchline, contorting himself as he cajoled his players into shape or skipping out of his technical area to deliver instructions.

Mourinho presumably recognized Leicester could and perhaps should have taken an early lead. With 69 seconds on the clock Jamie Vardy, making his second start of the year following a knee problem, was given an opportunity to stretch his legs after an untimely slip by Chris Smalling, one of two Englishmen to lineup for the Serie A side along with Tammy Abraham. With less than four minutes gone Timothy Castagne, darting to the back post at a corner, sent a header wide.

The hosts made a blistering start, Roma forced to survive an early swell of pressure, but Abraham slipped Nicolò Zaniolo in on goal inside the channel on 10 minutes and while the again imperious Wesley Fofana deflected the ball clear, it was a move Roma repeated for their smartly taken opener.

Leicester supporters cheered as a clip of Claudio Ranieri lifting the Premier League title with Wes Morgan played in a pre-match montage on the big screens at either end of this stadium. But in truth, they did not require any extra motivation for a game of this magnitude, against a team of such pedigree. “The team we adore since 1884,” read a tifo unfurled before kick-off in the South Stand. James Maddison, who shared a brief embrace with his former England Under-21 teammate Abraham as the players exchanged prematch pleasantries, tried his best to carve an opening.

Mourinho’s 25 titles (25 and a half, if you ask the Portuguese, given he was sacked six days before Tottenham reached the Carabao Cup final last year) were crammed into the honors list in the matchday program and how Leicester, who sent PSV packing in the previous round, crave more of these nights. Fofana occasionally took matters into his own hands, gracefully flowing forward from centre-back, and Smalling made a superb sliding block to prevent Ademola Lookman getting a shot at goal after he was threaded through by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

Vardy lasted an hour on his return before being replaced by Kelechi Iheanacho but another substitute, Harvey Barnes, was the catalyst for Leicester’s leveler on 67 minutes. Chances had been at a premium in the second half but Barnes sparked an attack and poured forward into a dangerous position at the byline after the Roma centre-back Roger Ibañez, trying to shield the ball from Iheanacho, inadvertently played a one-two with the Leicester winger. Barnes sat a cross into the six-yard box and Mancini deflected Lookman’s effort into his own. This stadium was now rocking but Brendan Rodgers was a picture of calm, coolly sipping a bottle of water.

Iheanacho forced the former Wolves goalkeeper Rui Patrício to tip around a post and Schmeichel made an acrobatic stop at the other end to prevent the substitute Sérgio Oliveira a couple of minutes later. Maddison’s cross then took a wicked deflection before five minutes of stoppage time. This pulsating tie will resume next week.