Manchester United was eliminated from the Europa League on Thursday night after an ugly performance against a clinical Sevilla at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán.
United had squandered a 2-0 lead in the first leg and never got going in the second. Sevilla didn’t look back as soon as Youssef En-Nesyri opened the scoring early to take the lead on aggregate, with the Moroccan scoring again late on after Loic Bade had also scored.
Sevilla fans brought the noise from the start and that energy translated onto the pitch as the hosts pressured United into an early mistake. David de Gea left Harry Maguire on an island with a bad pass when the captain was surrounded by white shirts. Erik Lamela closed it out and En-Nesyri was grateful to finish when the ball broke free.
United continued to be sloppy and there was another nervous moment at the back when there seemed to be a miscommunication between Maguire and De Gea.
Erik ten Hag’s side finally found some attacking rhythm midway through the first half, although when the first clear chance fell at the feet of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, the full-back took it straight to Bono. However, in the closing stages of the first half, Sevilla were playing United in midfield.
An offside limit indicated by the VAR denied Sevilla a second before the break. It was a good shot from Lucas Ocampos, but Marcos Acuña had deviated a few centimeters before the cross. Moments earlier, Victor Lindelof had also blocked Suso point blank.
Ten Hag wasted no time turning things around at half-time, sending off both Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw for the second half. But just as play restarted, a set piece was his undoing. Bade rose relatively smoothly to find Ivan Rakitic’s corner, connecting with his shoulder rather than his head, but still managed to beat a weak De Gea.
With United in disarray, only an instinctive save from De Gea prevented Ocampos from quickly scoring the third, followed by a frantic goal-mouth run.
United began to have more of the ball around the hour of play, although it seemed more so because Sevilla were content to drop back, sit up front and play on the counter. Casemiro at least forced Bono into a decent save with a powerful shot from distance.
With Sevilla under no pressure to force the issue, United spent a lot of time in the hosts’ camp. However, the nail in the coffin was another bad moment for De Gea. The Spaniard made a calamitous mistake going wide of his goal to try to control a Sevilla clearance, instead laying the ball up for En-Nesyri to make a first-shot sweep past the desperate stranded keeper.
Evaluations of the Sevilla players (4-2-3-1)
GK: bond(5); RB: Navas (6), BC: bad (8), BC: marked (6), LB: Acuna (6); CM: Fernando (7), CM: Gudelj (7); RM: ocampos (8), AM: Rakitic (8), LM: lamellae (7); STREET: En-Nesyri (8)
Sub: Suso (6), Gil (6), Telles (N/A)
Man Utd Player Ratings (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: David de Gea – 1/10 – He didn’t help Maguire for the early goal with a poor choice of passing and didn’t inspire confidence in those in front of him at all. Too easy for Sevilla to beat the second and the third goal was entirely their fault.
RB: Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 5/10 – He did not reappear in the second half, having switched to the left and Ten Hag apparently wanted a specialist.
DFC: Harry Maguire (c) – 4/10 – He didn’t position himself well when his pocket was picked for the opening goal, especially after it looked like he had signaled for the ball.
DFC: Victor Lindelof – 10/6 – He made some good blocks to keep Sevilla at bay.
LI: Diogo Dalot – 6/10 – He saw the ball a lot but was always very safe.
CM: Casemiro – 5/10 – He picked up another suspension, which will not apply until next season.
CM: Christian Eriksen – 5/10 – A second start in quick succession after a few months seemed to be taking its toll.
RM: Antonio – 6/10 – He looked like the one United player most likely to create something.
AM: Marcel Sabitzer – 4/10 – By no means as effective as he was at Old Trafford. Off the beat.
LM: Jadón Sancho – 4/10 – Disappointingly poor.
ST: Antonio Marcial – 5/10 – He often had to dig deep to try and get involved, before another injury ended his night prematurely.
substitutes
SUB: Marcus Rashford (46 ‘for Sancho) – 10/6
SUB: Luke Shaw (46 ‘for Wan-Bissaka) – 10/6
SUB: Wout Weghorst (54 ‘for Martial) – 5/10
SUB: Fred (68 ‘for Sabitzer) – 5/10
SUB: Anthony Elanga (86′ for Eriksen) – N/A
Manager
Erik ten Hag – 6/10 – His team was not prepared for the fight. He went to the bench relatively quickly.
Man of the match: Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla)
