Sevilla 0-0 MU: De Gea gives the Red Devils the advantage.
In their trip to Sevilla, Manchester United's expensive strikers like Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez both underperformed. However, in goal, David de Gea was outstanding, helping the Red Devils secure a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.
In the away match at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium, manager Jose Mourinho surprisingly benched midfielder Paul Pogba. Instead, he used young talent Scott McTominay, just like in the FA Cup win against Huddersfield last weekend. He partnered with Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic in Manchester United's three-midfielder formation in the match against Sevilla.
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Notably, center-back Eric Bailly has recovered from injury and was included in the squad, but MU's central defensive pairing for this match was Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof.
Sevilla, with the advantage of playing at home, continuously dominated MU right from the opening whistle. And as always, goalkeeper David De Gea continued to be a pillar of support for his teammates, successfully blocking a dangerous shot from Luis Muriel in the 4th minute.
In the 17th minute, MU suffered a setback when midfielder Herrera sustained an injury, forcing manager Mourinho to bring Pogba onto the field. However, the presence of the French star significantly improved the visitors' attacking performance.
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In the 24th minute, MU had their first chance of the match when Alexis Sanchez delivered an accurate long pass into the penalty area for Lukaku to comfortably shoot, but the ball went wide. Immediately, Sevilla responded with a shot from Joaquin Correa on the left wing, but he couldn't beat De Gea.
Before the first half ended, goalkeeper De Gea made two more outstanding saves in quick succession, first denying N'Zonzi's header and, most notably, then Luis Muriel's close-range header.
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In the second half, the game was fairly balanced, but Sevilla still created the dangerous opportunities. And in a brilliant performance, De Gea helped the Premier League side keep a clean sheet.
In the 75th minute, manager Mourinho was forced to bring on young talent Marcus Rashford to replace new signing Alexis Sanchez after the latter's disappointing performance in the match. Rashford's presence brought new life to MU's left flank, making their attacks much faster and more unpredictable.
In the final minutes of the match, Lukaku unexpectedly scored against Sevilla, but the referee disallowed the goal because the Belgian star had handled the ball. The match ended 0-0. The rematch between MU and Sevilla will take place at Old Trafford on March 14th.
In the other first leg match of the Champions League round of 16 played last night, Shakhtar Donetsk defeated AS Roma 2-1 at home thanks to goals from the South American duo Facundo Ferreyra and Fred. The only goal for the Italian side, and the opening goal, was scored by young striker Cengiz Under.