Sebastian Hoeness frustrated after VfB Stuttgart lose in Rome

Niccolo Pisilli scored both of the Roma goals last night in their 2-0 Europa League win against Stuttgart. He scored once in each half of the match.

Stuttgart matched Roma for long spells but were punished for a lack of cutting edge, as the Italian side proved more clinical and strengthened their push for a top-eight finish. Stuttgart, by contrast, head into the final round of fixtures with work still to do.

"We need to look at ourselves," Hoeness said after the match. "At the end of the day, you need to score the goals. We had the chances."

Those words summed up the night. Deniz Undav and Ermedin Demirovic both had clear opportunities to bring Stuttgart level, but neither could convert. Roma made their superiority count late on, with Niccolo Pisilli scoring his second goal in added time to settle the contest.

"We're disappointed with the result, but certainly not the performance," Hoeness added. "It could have been a great evening if we'd scored from the chances we created."

Finishing has been a recurring issue. Stuttgart recently escaped punishment despite wastefulness against Eintracht Frankfurt and then dropped points against Union Berlin after missing four major chances. Karazor admitted the same problem surfaced again.

"We've seen in the last games that we need to concentrate more when we're near the goal, in the last pass or the final shot," he told UEFA.

Stuttgart sit outside the top eight heading into the final league-phase match and may need help from other results. Karazor was clear about the immediate task against Young Boys.

"We want to win this game, and we need to take three points," he said.

Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini was delighted with his side's response. "It turned out to be a perfect match," he told Sky. "We involved everyone against a strong team. It was a very demanding test."

Stuttgart now turn their focus to a Bundesliga trip to Borussia Monchengladbach this weekend before the decisive European fixture next week.