AS Roma midfielder Nemanja Matic says they can be pleased after their Europa League win against Real Sociedad.

Roma won the first-leg of the round of 16 tie 2-0 thanks to goals from Stephan El Shaarawy and Marash Kumbulla.

Matic said, "We played well against a very strong team which is fourth in the Spanish league.

"It was difficult but we played very well, defended strongly and I am very happy. Our team has improved from four or five months ago, improved a lot.

"We won 2-0 but we know that Real Sociedad play very good football and we go to Spain to continue like this. We are only 2-0 up; we have to fight until the end."

Kumbulla also said: "I felt great emotion because it has always been an ambition of mine to score in front of the Curva Sud. I had scored in front of the Curva Nord."