(Football news) Two early goals by Manchester United’s Marcel Sabitzer was not enough for the Red Devils to defeat Sevilla in the first leg of the Europa League quarter final at Old Trafford. Erik ten Hag’s side scored two own goals, the first being from Tyrell Malacia in the 84th minute while Harry Maguire put the ball through his own net in the second minute of stoppage time. If that wasn’t all, Raphael Varane was forced off injured while Lisandro Martinez had to be carried from the field on a stretcher in the second half.
The two injuries can have some serious repercussions on Manchester United’s season as they are already missing top scorer Marcus Rashford while Luke Shaw is also sidelined. They will need to dig deep to find a positive result in next Thursday’s second leg quarter final match at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in the absence of key players. In team news, Casemiro featured for Manchester United while Raphael Varane and Anthony Martial were also in the starting lineup. Sevilla made eight changes from their 2-2 draw against Celta Vigo with Nemanja Gudelj, Marcos Acuna and Fernando being the only players to retain their positions.
Speaking after the match, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said “We had the game in our hands. We were 2-0 up and we should’ve scored a third and a fourth. The game was totally on us, and we had some unlucky moments with injuries. We had to make some subs with injuries, like Rafa [Raphael Varane] at half time, then we lose control in an unlucky moment and we switched off. Then we had another unlucky moment with Lisandro Martinez and we’re down to 10 and then we conceded a second own goal. It’s bad luck and we have to deal with it.”
Sevilla boss Jose Luis Mendilibar said “The first 30 mins were poor for us, great for them, they caused up problems. At half-time we said if we score one goal we would be back in the tie. We didn’t let our heads drop and, bit by bit, we didn’t suffer as much as we did in the first half. We managed to equalise, Martinez got injured, and in the end, we had chances to turn the game around and leave as winners. But the result is great, we can celebrate tonight.”
Also read: Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford ruled out for ‘a few games’ due to muscle injury
