Two late own goals by Manchester United helped Sevilla produce one of the high-scoring football scores of the weekend in the UEFA Europa League. After Marcel Sabitzer’s first-half double, United appeared to be on their way to the semi-finals, but a failure to emphasize their dominance was mercilessly punished in a stunning climax. Malacia’s own goal in the 84th minute gave Sevilla a way back into the game, and Youssef En-Nesyri forced Maguire to throw into his own net in the second minute of stoppage time.
Already missing top scorer Marcus Rashford, the draw may have felt like a defeat, with center-back Raphael Varane forced off hurt at half-time and Lisandro Martinez carried off the pitch on a stretcher in the second half. It means that United’s Europa League hopes are dependent on a positive outcome in next Thursday’s rematch at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan without their top scorer and, maybe, their first-choice center-back pairing.
Manchester United felt it was a case of no Rashford, no problem as they set about securing a first-leg advantage to carry to Seville with an authoritative attacking start that Jadon Sancho thought he had crowned with the opening inside 30 seconds, only to have it called out for offside. But United’s wait was only 14 minutes, as Fernandes’ incisive forward pass found Sabitzer, who finished clinically beyond custodian Yassine Bounou after being kept onside by Marcos Acuna. Seven minutes later, Sabitzer extended the lead by timing another run in behind and completing another polished finish after the returning Martial’s spectacular takedown and defense-splitting pass.
In 38 minutes, former Tottenham forward Erik Lamela escaped a red card after a VAR review after a challenge on Casemiro, but the same could not be said moments later when Fernandes was harshly penalized for handball while blocking Nemanja Gudelj’s shot, earning him a booking and ruling him out of the second leg. As the half came to a close, United allowed the game to drift and was indebted to custodian David de Gea, who wonderfully blocked Tanguy Nianzou’s bullet near-post header, and then defender Varane, who reacted superbly to tip the rebound off the goal line before Sevilla could pounce.
Varane’s final act proved to be his last, with club captain Harry Maguire replacing the injured Frenchman at the interval, though it did nothing to disturb the flow of the game, with United coming within inches of scoring a third when Antony’s curled shot cannoned off the inside of the Sevilla post. As United futilely sought for a third goal that would have ended the tie, Christian Eriksen, Wout Weghorst, and Anthony Elanga were replaced, and that failure came back to haunt them when Jesus Navas capitalized on Malacia’s hesitation to put the ball into the United net off the Dutchman.
It energized the previously unhappy Spaniards, who completed their stunning comeback in injury time when En-Nesyri’s shot bounced off Maguire and past De Gea. The sight of Martinez being carried down the tunnel only added to United’s terrible ending, which was fortunate to avoid defeat but now faces a mountain to climb in order to proceed.
For the first time since a 3-3 tie with Basel in September 2011, Manchester United failed to win a match with a two-goal lead in a major European competition. For the first time since March 2021, Sevilla scored an equalizing goal in a major European game in the 90th minute against Borussia Dortmund. Manchester United became the second English team after Chelsea against Erik ten Hag’s Ajax in November 2019 to score two own goals in a single match in a major European competition.
“We had control of the game. We were up 2-0 and should’ve added a third and fourth. The game was entirely on us, and we had some unfortunate injuries,” Manchester United head coach Erik Ten Hag said. “We had to make several substitutions due to injuries, such as Rafa [Raphael Varane] at halftime, and then we lost control in an unfortunate moment and switched off. Then we had another bad moment with Lisandro Martinez, and we were down to 10, only to concede another own goal. We have to deal with our terrible luck.”
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