Manchester United return home from Seville after a 3-0 defeat at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, with 5-2 on aggregate Sevilla book their place in the Semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League.
Manchester United could have buried the tie last week at Old Trafford but Red Devils threw away a comfortable lead of two goals in the dying minutes through two own goals.
Although Erik Ten Hag’s men started the match as favourites to go through, Sevilla continued their impressive form under Jose Luis Mendilibar as they picked up from where they left off in the first-leg.
It will be safe to say that Manchester United gifted Sevilla most of the goals in the tie, while it is undeniable that the Andalusian side played with purpose and capitalised on opponents mistakes. Also read:Juventus Go Through To The Europa League Semis
Manchester United’s starting line up offered plenty of attacking potential but defense was uncharacteristically disorganised and lacked stability, David de Gea had a night forget as his ball playing ability has always been questioned and this game was a testament of it.
En-Nesryi ignited the home fans in the 8th minute as he capitalised on David de Gea’s clueless pass to Maguire to open the scoring. Mendilibar’s men were pumped up with the enthusiasm and energy from the stands, a rabona cross from Nemanja Gudelj towards Lucas Ocampos spoke of the confidence they were in after taking the lead. Also read:Match Recap: Roma Manage Extra-Time Win Over Lackluster Feyenoord
Erik Ten Hag did a couple of changes at the break, he brought in Rashford and Luke Shaw at the halftime but it didn’t have any significant change in the United side. In the 46th minute Sevilla put the tie into bed after Bade headed in a Rakitic corner.
United’s attacking efforts to overturn the lead was marred by their defensive unit as in the 81st minute we saw another David de Gea howler, En-Nesryi put the ball into the net for second time in the night.
Six times Europa League Champions Sevilla will face Juventus in the semi final, on the other hand Manchester United will have to pick themselves up and focus on the upcoming FA Cup semi final against Brighton at Wembley. Also read:The De Gea Problem Of United, Should He Be Replaced?
Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag told BT Sport: “It’s clear when you make such mistakes it’s very difficult to win a football match. The fans can expect us to deal with it [the atmosphere], so I will not say that is an explanation for it [the defeat]. We have to do better, that is the demand.
“We were not composed; we were not calm. We made bad decision; we lost battles, and they had more passion and desire and willingness. Then it’s difficult to win football games. This is a problem; we cannot run away from it.
“It’s not about them [the absent players], it’s about the players on the pitch, they have to perform. I believe in them; I trust them and then they have to show. But today, we were not good enough.
“We were not ready for the game and that cannot be. When you play for Manchester United you have to be ready for every game, especially on this great occasion in a quarter-final in Europe. We have to blame ourselves.”
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