Sergio Oliviera goes from hero to zero as Roma see off Vitesse in Holland

Sergio Oliviera went from hero to villain real quickly after AS Roma defeated Vitesse 1-0 in the Europa Conference League round of 16 first leg.

Oliviera scored the only goal in first-half stoppage time to give the Italians the advantage heading into the second leg in Rome.

Jose Mourinho's men survived early pressure from the hosts who looked more threatening and almost opened the scoring through Lois Openda eight-minute in. 

Adrian Grbic had the ball in the net but it was ruled off for offside just before the end of the first quarter, while Tammy Abraham almost added to his tally this season with an effort that was expertly tipped off.

Oliviera finally broke the home side just before the break to put Roma ahead at halftime.

The second half started with Mourinho making three quick changes to his Roma side in a bid to get them to play better.

Gianluca Mancini had a chance to double Roma's advantage but watched his header come off the bar.

With 20 minutes to go, Oliviera was sent off after he received his second yellow of the match for a dangerous tackle.

However, Mourinho and his side held on to take a slim advantage back to Rome ahead of the second leg next week Thursday.

Roma are now unbeaten in their last five matches, with the win tonight making it three successive wins in all competitions.