Roma teenager Nicolo Zaniolo was over the moon after a record-breaking turn on Tuesday led his side to victory in their Champions League last-16 clash.
Zaniolo, 19, is enjoying a breakout season in Serie A as he continues to impress up front for Eusebio Di Francesco’s team.
And he was instrumental in a 2-1 victory over Porto’s in Tuesday’s first leg, swooping with two goals in six minutes past goalkeeping legend Iker Casillas.
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His double meant that Zaniolo became youngest Italian player ever to hit twice in a Champions League tie, a fact that left him elated after the final whistle.
“It’s an incredible night, I am speechless and never would’ve expected such a thing,” he told Sky Sport Italia when questioned on his feat.
Roma will nevertheless take nothing for granted at the halfway stage.
Substitute Adrian Lopez kept the tie on a knife-edge with a late goal for Porto, which means a 1-0 victory would be sufficient in the return match to send the Portuguese team through on away goals.
And Zaniolo admitted that he and his team-mates were annoyed at that slip having worked themselves into a commanding position.
“However, we’ve got the second leg coming up, we shouldn’t have conceded the second goal and we’ve got to think as a unit,” he added.
“We allowed Porto practically nothing, so we have to do the same in the second leg to qualify. I worked hard tonight, but I am very happy to do that for this team.
“Celebrating under the curva is an extraordinary feeling, I can’t describe it. I hope to score many more goals under this curva.”
Roma will travel to Oporto for the second leg on March 6 to defend their slender lead.
The Italians are hoping to repeat their exploits of the 2017-18 Champions League, where they won through to the semi finals during a run that included a famous 3-0 win over Barcelona at the Stadio Olimpico.
The fairytale eventually ended at the hands of Liverpool, who won through 7-6 on aggregate in 180 thrilling minutes of football to book a final clash with eventual champions Real Madrid.