United limp out of Europe as Sevilla make most of their mistakes
OUT OF EUROPE: Manchester United limp out of Europe after a poor performance in Sevilla Pic: DARREN STAPLES/AFP via Getty Images)
HARRY Maguire started the rot with an horrendous mistake, as Manchester United exited the Europa League with a whimper rather than a bang, in Sevilla but the club captain was not alone.
Having thrown away the lead in the first leg, a team badly missing the creativity of the suspended Bruno Fernandes saw their European season end for a sixth successive season against Spanish opposition, 5-2 on aggregate.
Sevilla themselves have accounted for three of those defeats - a sorry indication of how far United have slumped from their old status - and manager Erik ten Hag now has a clear picture of the size of the summer rebuild facing him.
Maguire, given the season he has endured, has no future under his manager but he is not alone and the destiny of the likes of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof, Jadon Sancho, Anthony Martial and even David de Gea must all be under scrutiny.
De Gea summed up a wretched evening nine minutes from time in humiliating fashion when he came to deal with a hopeful long ball and, under no pressure, miscontrolled the ball.
It fell to Youssef En-Nesryi who swept in his second goal of the evening into an open goal from 30 yards. Game, set and match.
United had conceded early, and badly, to their hosts and, by the time ten Hag strode purposefully down the tunnel on the half-time whistle, their manager must have been saying a silent prayer to the football gods that they had not been completely swept away at an electric Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium.
Just five minutes before that break, United appeared to have concede a second when Casemiro lost the ball in midfield, the latest in a long list of United errors.
En-Nesryi pushed the ball wide to Marcos Acuna whose brilliant pass picked out Lucas Ocampos whose magnificent 16-yard finish sent the crowd into ecstasy before a lengthy VAR judgement spared the Reds with an offside call.
It would have been no more than Sevilla deserved. And United, who threw away a two-goal lead in last week’s first leg at Old Trafford with two late own goals.
And, yet again, after that calamity in Manchester, United were wholly responsible as they found themselves with a 3-2 aggregate deficit just eight minutes into the return.
Maguire, who clearly had fallen out of ten Hag’s favoured line-up showed why with an incomprehensible piece of defensive ineptitude, challenged only by the decision of his goalkeeper de Gea to pass him the ball on the edge of the United are with three Sevilla forwards pressing onto him.
Predictably, Maguire instantly lost the ball to Erik Lamela, En-Nesryi, whose introduction as a late sub last week had made such an impact, took over and punished de Gea with a lethal finish.
Ten Hag would undoubtedly have sent out his injury-hit team with instructions to keep a fanatical home crowd quiet over the opening exchanges. Instead, the home side was inspired, United in self-destruct mode.
De Gea and Maguire made a mess of a long ball, with the defender hoofing the ball away and, if not exactly panic stations, it was certainly on the verge of that when Nemanja Gudelj’s superb “rabona” cross was headed goalwards by En-Nesryi where Lucas Ocampos almost scored a second as de Gea scrambled clear.
United had barely registered at the other end of the field, the only thing resembling a chance falling to Casemiro who headed over from eight yards after Antony’s cross was slightly too high.
But it was very much a reminder of the lowpoints of ten Hag’s debut season - the humiliations at Brentford and Liverpool - rather than one of the many positives that the manager has brought with him.
It was predictable, therefore, that he turned to Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw at the interval, two of his loyal lieutenants who have enjoyed impressive seasons under the new manager and were on his bench after returning from injuries.
Before either had made a meaningful contribution to the second half, United were two-down and on their way out.
Again, the goal summed up a sub-par defence and de Gea badly off his best as all failed to deal with a right-wing Ivan Rakitic corner that was met by Loic Bade, eight yards out.
His effort looped over de Gea, who had badly misjudged his positioning, and watched helplessly as the ball bounced off the cross-bar and over the line.
It was beginning to look reminiscent of that seven-goal mauling at Liverpool last month and might have been heading into that territory a few minutes later when Lamela’s shot forced de Gea into a diving save.
Seconds after, another corner sparked pandemonium in the six-yard box as En-Nesryi headed down and Ocampos and Gudelj both came close to forcing a third goal over the line.
It was a miserable performance all over the field, summed up by Casemiro and Antony picking up petulant bookings in quick succession.
And to compound ten Hag’s concerns, Anthony Martial picked up yet another injury to add to the five that have sidelined him so far this season, limping off with an ankle problem to be replaced by Wout Weghorst.
: Bono 6; Navas 8, Bade 7, Marcao 6 (Suso 29, 7), Acuna 7 (Telles 85); Gudelj 7, Fernando 7; Ocampos 7, Rakitic 7, Lamela 8 (Gil 80); En-Nesyri 9.Â
: Dmitrovic, Flores, Rekik, Mir, Nianzou, Torres, Gomez.
: De Gea 3; Wan-Bissaka 5 (Shaw 45, 5), Maguire 4, Lindelof 5, Dalot 5; Eriksen 5 (Elanga 87), Casemiro 5, Sabitzer 5 (Fred 68, 5); Antony 5, Martial 5 (Weghorst 53, 5), Sancho 4 (Rashford 45, 5).Â
: Butland, Vitek, Malacia, Fred, Pellistri, Iqbal, Elanga.
: A Dias (Portugal) 7
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