Justin Kluivert scored the vital away goal as Roma booked their place in the last-16 of the Europa League on Thursday evening.
With the Giallorossi arriving at the Ghelamco Arena looking to build on the 1-0 lead obtained at the Stadio Olimpico a week ago, Kluivert’s equaliser with 30 minutes gone changed the complexion of the tie – leaving Gent needing to score twice more to progress.
The Belgian side were unable to do that, meaning Roma can now look forward to the last-16 draw in Nyon later this week.
A potentially nervy night for Paulo Fonseca’s side was ultimately made a lot calmer by Kluivert’s strike; the forward finishing smartly after being played in brilliantly by Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Gent had taken the lead through Jonathan David – the forward sliding home from inside the box – but had levelled up the tie for just four minutes before Kluivert made his presence known.
Suddenly needing to score twice to have a chance of progressing, the hosts struggled to create clear-cut openings.
Captain Vadis Odjidja threatened on multiple occasions in the second half, but the best of his openings went wide and the others were comfortably dealt with by Pau Lopez.
