Featured Image Credit: UEFA/BT Sport
Topics: Chris Smalling, Football, AS Roma
Nasir Jabbar
Chris Smalling produced a defensive masterclass in AS Roma's Europa Conference League triumph, with his individual highlights making for brilliant viewing.
Smalling starred at the back as Roma beat Feyenoord 1-0 in the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday.
He kept Cyriel Dessers quiet and made vital blocks in an excellent, assured defensive performance.
The Englishman was a commanding presence all game, won his aerial battles and dominated his one-on-one duels in a showing that earned him the 'Man of the Match' award.
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A stunning compilation of his outing shows he was a defensive beast for Jose Mourinho.
Smalling's masterclass in defence sent social media wild, with Manchester United fans weighing in on their former player.
One Twitter user wrote: "Puts £80m Maguire to absolute shame."
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A second tweeted: "Looking back we should have kept him and not even bothered looking at Harry Maguire."
A third joked: "That man SmallDINI."
It's Smalling's second European title of his career under Mourinho following his Europa League win for Man United in 2017.
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Speaking after his side's win in Albania, the 32-year-old said: "We knew how much it was going to mean to everybody in Rome, and you can see how together we are, everybody fought until the end.
"We had to do that on a few occasions this year (fighting hard), we dropped a bit deeper than we maybe wanted to but we knew we had to do everything. You could see, strikers running back, everybody defending and we knew we had to win
"Even when I first came to the club it had been a long time since they won a trophy, you can hear the fans. We knew how much it was going to mean, you can see we've got some of the best fans."