Manchester United will have a number of missed occasions as they were defeated 2–1 via Sevilla in the Europa League semi-finals.
The look of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was to expect him to be the third time lucky in the semi-finals after being eliminated in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup the last 4 of the season, but the lack of defensive errors and the lack of peaks carry them once again.
However, they made the best start when Bruno Fernandes (9) changed positions after Marcus Rashford fell victim to a lack of Diego Carlos. But former Liverpool winger Suso (27) matched things with a tap-in in an entertaining first half.
United had a number of opportunities after half-time to regain the lead (Mason Greenwood, Anthony Martial, Fernandes and Rashford approached), but paid for the flaws when Luuk de Jong (78) hit the house after a poor defense of Victor. Lindelof and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Five-time Europa League champions Sevilla will face Inter Milan or Shakhtar Donetsk in Friday’s final in Cologne, while Manchester United will run short.
It was a smart start from United as they were looking to produce greater functionality than their quarter-final win over FC Copenhagen and were awarded a penalty in seven minutes.
It was also a very good game as a cheeky pass from Martial saw Rashford from the left of the area, a shot of the latter well stored through Yassine Bounou. However, just after the ball left his foot, Rashford fired through Carlos, sending him out of the area in genuine pain.
While Fernandes was chasing the loose ball, the referee blew on a penalty that the Portuguese were lining up, but with a short stop for Rashford to make himself noticeable through the medical team. Once he took it, it was a great office in front of Bounou.
Returning seemed to bring Sevilla to life after a nervous start, but against the race, United may have doubled his lead in the 14th minute.
Fred first recovered the ball before returning Fernandes to a race. Then the midfielder slid the ball towards Fred, who had acres of area in front of him, but his career left him at a narrow angle and he can simply shoot on the net side. A short time later, Lucas Ocampos forced a heavy punch from David de Gea on the first club when Sevilla approached the tie.
And the purpose came in the 26th minute after a glorious team play. Ocampos made a very good pass ahead on the way to Regulion, who then sent a bright center through the area. Suso waited on the back post while Brandon Williams struggled to return before hitting the bottom of the net.
United will be aggrieved by the tie, as it deserves to have won the replay that started the game’s passage. However, because the VAR cannot go back so much for a pass, it has not been reviewed or rejected.
As in the first half, United came out of the traps after the break and the scores were only kept on point only through very good stops and bounou locks. Within two minutes, Greenwood sent his effort to the goalkeeper before Martial, Rashford and Fernandes saw a series of shots stored or blocked through Seville’s defense.
Martial twice refused through Bounou shortly after, his first shot stored through the goalkeeper’s legs. His timing seemed to be a simple chip in the seville snub, but Bounou returned to deny the Frenchman while Manchester United wasted another chance.
United continued to see the best of the game and limited its conflicting parts to a few offensive attacks, but was forced to pay for his first missed chances, as well as for a lousy defense, when De Jong sent Sevilla back to the final. Former Manchester City player Jesus Navas launched a centre from the right, with De Jong hiding between Lindelof and Wan-Bissaka. The specific sideways stopped moving absolutely when the striker scored the winner at home.
This led to a match between Lindelof and Fernandes following the fall of United after another semi-final when Sevilla reached their sixth Europa League final, two more than any other team in the competition’s history.
Upon entering the match, Banega was known as the risky Sevilla and possibly would not make the headlines, was the center of the beating of the La Liga team and contributed to its success.
He made everything simple with and without ball. Although Banega ceded the ball to damaging dominance once after half-time, he was also insightful, tidy and elegant in his game.
Adam Bate from Sky Sports:
“Fighting the elegance of a master of purpose can be unfortunate. Face two in a week and the team’s cruelty to the purpose will be questioned. Marcus Rashford was careless in his execution. Anthony Martial was rejected twice in a minute through Sevilla Bono goalkeeper while one opposed one. The shots were blocked and others failed. The blow was possible.
No wonder that when he arrived, he was cut to the left of United, where volunteer Brandon Williams endured a rough night. And yet it was the others’ defense for Luuk de Jong’s goal in the 78th minute that worried Solskjaer. Victor Lindelof has done more to block the center. The fact that Aaron Wan-Bissaka didn’t move even when the ball came in seemed inexplicable. It was of poor quality. That was punished.
Read in full here
Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui: “We suffered during a few moments of the match against Manchester United, especially at the beginning of the moment. They had some transparent scoring opportunities, but Bono helps us stay alive in the game and then showed our heart We knew it was imaginable [to succeed in the final].
“We kept running a lot and I think at the end of the moment we were bigger and scored the goal of the moment. We are very pleased to be at the top and I am very satisfied by the players as they deserve to be in the last.
“I am also very satisfied with our followers because this time it is very complicated for the company. It’s smart that we can bring some joy to other people and it makes us very satisfied. We have a lot of excitement to play the latest and win it. Array We don’t know who yet, however, will be some other more complicated game, so we have to prepare very well.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Manchester United coach: “The result is very disappointing. We’re not devastated, but it’s one of the hard times to take because you feel like you’ve played things sometimes, created opportunities and just couldn’t succeed.” in the goals that, in my opinion, were deserved at times.
“We were at the forefront for long periods, in the first half and at the time, especially at the beginning of the two halves. We create occasions and we’ve scored, but I can’t blame the boys.
“But it seems we let ourselves pass because when we were upstairs, it’s time to keep them urgent. We let them play too much in periods and we definitely let it slip away.”
“It is a disappointing purpose [the winner of De Jong] to grant. I need the players to be guilty and responsible, once again, the center has been diverted. Brandon [Williams] a little unfortunate and Victor [Lindelof] gets stuck with a ball that passes it over after that deviation, so I think it’s just a little frustration.
Sevilla will face Inter Milan or Shakhtar Donetsk in the Europa League final on Friday 21 August. The semi-final moment will be played on Monday (start at 8 p.m.), which can be reached on Sky Sports’ virtual platforms.
Semifinals
Inter Milan vs Shakhtar Donetsk (Monday 17 August, Merkur Spiel-Arena)
End
Friday, August 21 (RheinEnergieStadion)