Sevilla rips hapless Manchester United to shreds, qualify for UEL last four
Record winners humble English giants in Seville
Spanish outfit Sevilla booked their place in the semifinals of the UEFA Europa League following a stunning 3-0 win over Manchester United at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in their quarterfinal second leg meeting, going through with a 5-2 aggregate scoreline. The six-time winners reached the last four despite their domestic struggles.
After a rousing comeback at Old Trafford saw Sevilla claw back a 2-2 draw in the first leg, they had the momentum heading into the second leg at home. Manchester United were without a host of regulars through injury and suspension, including Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, and Bruno Fernandes, with Marcus Rashford only fit enough for a place on the bench.
The hosts started the game in high-octane fashion and were gifted an opener after only eight minutes. With three players closing captain Harry Maguire down, David De Gea passed the ball to him. Unable to turn under pressure, the Englishman lost possession, allowing Erik Lamela find Youssef En-Nesyri to open the scoring.
The Seville-based side thought they had a second just before half-time when Lucas Ocampos fired home, only for a VAR intervention to rule the effort out for an offside in the build-up from Marcos Acuna.
Two minutes into the second half, Sevilla doubled their advantage through French defender Loic Bade. The young defender headed home his side’s second from an Ivan Rakitic corner, sending the home crowd into raptures.
The Spanish outfit were gifted a late third in the 81st minute as De Gea miscontrolled a long punt into the path of En-Nesyri, allowing the Moroccan striker to fire into an unguarded net from outside the box, sparking wild celebrations.
Sevilla held on for a famous win and clean sheet to reach the semifinals of the competition for a fifth time since 2009/10 despite their domestic struggles. The Spanish side are favourites to succeed Eintracht Frankfurt as champions of the competition as they have won it in each of their last four semifinal appearances.
