Sevilla won the Europa League for a sixth time as Diego Carlos’s overhead kick deflected in off Romelu Lukaku 16 minutes from time to beat Inter Milan 3-2 in a thrilling final in Cologne.
Carlos and Lukaku’s evening had got off to a very different start as the defender hauled the Belgian striker down and he converted the resulting penalty to put Inter in front after just five minutes.
Two Luuk De Jong headers turned the game around for Sevilla, but Diego Godin quickly levelled in a four-goal first half.
However, Italy’s wait for a first European trophy in a decade, and Inter’s nine-year trophy drought, goes on after Lukaku could not stop Carlos’s spectacular strike on another famous Europa League night for Sevilla.
Antonio Conte’s men will have a case that the Sevilla defender should have been sent off after just three minutes as Lukaku accelerated past him with ease on the counter-attack and was hauled to the ground by the Brazilian, who conceded an early penalty for the third consecutive game.
Carlos was only shown a yellow card, but Lukaku ensured Inter were rewarded as he confidently slotted home his 34th goal of the season to equal his idol Ronaldo’s record in his first season at Inter, which ended in Inter’s last UEFA Cup win 1997/98.
De Jong has been far from that prolific in his first season in Spain, but the Dutch international suddenly hit form at the right time as he was handed a start by Julen Lopetegui after coming off the bench to score the winner in the semi-final against Manchester United.
Inter did not learn from that goal against the English giants.
Jesus Navas was again the provider and when De Jong got across Godin, his diving header had too much power for Samir Handanovic.
Tempers were also flaring in a pulsating first half with frequent confrontations between the benches as they tried to influence Dutch referee Danny Makkelie.
Tonight’s match-up between Sevilla and Inter is the 11th Europa League final since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup in 2009.
The final in Cologne is Antonio Conte’s first European final since Jose Mourinho walked out on the high of securing the only ever treble of Champions League, Serie A and Coppa Italia in 2010.
It is nine years since Inter won any trophy.
The Spanish side are the most successful club in UEFA Cup/Europa League history, making the final on six occasions and winning the competition six times.
Sevilla have won their last six European finals and victory tonight equaled the record, currently held by Liverpool and Real Madrid, for the most consecutive final wins in UEFA competition.
Watch the Highlights below:
https://youtu.be/UFSJkppVEhY?t=1