Chris Smalling Is Man of the Match as Roma Win the First Europa Conference League

Vegan defender Chris Smalling has been named man of the match in a European final. Roma beat Feyenoord 1-0 in Tirana tonight to win the first ever UEFA Europa Conference League, and UEFA's technical observers gave Smalling the player of the match award.

Nicolo Zaniolo scored the only goal in the 32nd minute, and from there it was up to the back three of Gianluca Mancini, Smalling and Roger Ibanez to hold on. Feyenoord pushed hard after the break, but Smalling kept the competition's top scorer, Cyriel Dessers, quiet.

It's Roma's first trophy since the 2008 Coppa Italia and the first European title for an Italian club since Inter won the Champions League in 2010.

Smalling, 32, went vegan in 2017, nudged along by his wife and their dog. He told Great Vegan Athletes he did it because he "realised how brutal [animal agriculture] is to animals", and he soon noticed a difference in how he recovered. As he told Sky Sports News:

The second day after a game is often when I feel most fatigued, but my fatigue levels have gone down and, on the second day, I've felt a lot more recovered than previously.

He has also said his hamstring strength went up by 35 per cent in testing after the switch, and that cutting out red meat, even before he went fully vegan, had already eased his tendinitis.

Our readers have watched this unfold. Back in 2018 we reported that the Manchester United defender had gone fully vegan. A year later he became the first Englishman since Beckham to score twice in a Serie A season, and in 2020 he made his Roma move permanent.

A clean sheet and a European trophy. No meat, no problem.