Sevilla knock Man Utd out of Champions League
A 1-2 home defeat in the second leg forced Man Utd to stop early at Europe's most prestigious playground.
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Ben Yedder scored twice against Man Utd. Photo: Reuters |
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Ben Yedder has scored eight goals in the Champions League this season. Photo: PA |
Goals: Lukaku 84' - Ben Yedder 74', 78'
The poor performance at Old Trafford was a hard-fought defeat for Man Utd, who are aiming for the Champions League this season. Man Utd only have a chance to win the FA Cup when they play Brighton in the quarter-finals this weekend.
Three days after a resounding victory over Liverpool, Man Utd fell to the bottom of disappointment in a match that showed the poor performance of both the attack and the defense. While the attack played deadlocked and did not apply enough pressure, the defense made unacceptable mistakes in a match as important as the Champions League knockout round.
Sevilla's opener came from a half-hearted pass from Valencia, with Matic then making a poor clearance to allow Pablo Sarabia to through for Ben Yedder to score. For the second goal, Ashley Young failed to mark the Sevilla striker, allowing him to head in from a tight angle despite being behind him.
Having to score three goals to advance, Man Utd only got a consolation goal with a close-range volley from Lukaku. There was no miracle in the final minutes for the Old Trafford team and they had to stop playing like their compatriot Tottenham.
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De Gea could not save Man Utd like in the first leg. Photo: Reuters |
Man Utd won the Europa League last season, but it is a long way from the second division to the first division. Sevilla were not highly rated opponents in the round of 16 and it seemed like Man Utd had an easy draw, but their defensive play was too safe, causing the team to lose after two matches.
Mourinho seemed to be running out of ideas when he started Fellaini to add some security in the second leg. This was the first match the Belgian midfielder had started since November last year. Rashford also played from the start but it seemed like the best of the player was left behind in the victory over Liverpool.
Similar to Rashford is the new signing Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean was expected to bring a breath of fresh air to the Man Utd attack, but what he got was disappointment. Sanchez lacked speed and did not have the dribbling skills he was known for, but in return, he lacked ideas in the final stages, causing opportunities to pass him and his teammates.
Mourinho has been eliminated in the Champions League round of 16 for the fourth time in the last 12 seasons. The last time this coach won the most prestigious tournament in Europe was nearly 10 years ago with Inter Milan and he showed nothing new when leading Man Utd in their return to the Champions League this season.
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Sevilla did not allow Man Utd strikers to approach the 16m50 box. Photo: Reuters |
Praise must be given to coach Montella and his Sevilla players when they visited Old Trafford. The Spanish team still confidently deployed a short passing style of play and did not wait patiently for opportunities.
Ben Yedder was the star with two goals but the credit went to the midfielders who controlled the midfield. Sevilla midfielders Steven N'Zonzi and Ever Banega were superior to United in terms of combination play and interceptions, helping to ease the pressure on the defence. The brilliance of the visitors' midfielders meant United were unable to create any danger in the box and had to look for opportunities from distance.
Former Stoke midfielder N'Zonzi completed 94 passes, the most on the pitch, while his partner Banega won possession 13 times. Their dominance over Fellaini, Matic and then Pogba was key to Sevilla's victory. Banega will miss the first leg of the quarter-finals after picking up a yellow card against Man Utd.
