ROMA (Interstat) — Niccolò Pisilli scored twice to lead AS Roma to a 2-0 victory over Germany’s VfB Stuttgart in Europa League group stage play Thursday at Stadio Olimpico.

The midfielder broke a stalemate in the 40th minute and sealed the win with a second goal in stoppage time. The result defied a pre-match projection from Interstat, whose simulator had forecast a 1-1 draw despite rating Roma as a heavy favorite.

The Italian side began its European campaign with a win, improving to 1-0-0, while Stuttgart starts 0-1-0. Stuttgart’s Maximilian Mittelstädt, Jeff Chabot and Roma’s Zeki Çelik received yellow cards in the match.