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Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has warned his players that they must “learn to kill the game” after they allowed Sevilla to claw back a two-goal deficit to clinch a draw in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final at Old Trafford on Thursday. Marcel Sabitzer scored in quick succession in the first half to put United firmly in control, but Sevilla, record six-times Europa League champions, pulled one back in the 84th minute when Jesus Navas’ shot pinged off the feet of Tyrell Malacia and keeper David de Gea into the net.
“I think we had the game in hand,” Ten Hag told BT Sport. “We should have scored three or four … and then some unlucky moments with injuries. And then we conceded two own goals and that’s bad luck. We have to deal with it. Of course, we have to learn that we have to kill the game.”
Sabitzer, who netted his first European goal for United in the 14th minute, said it was tough to find words after his team’s late meltdown. “A roller-coaster,” Sabitzer said. “We had to finish the game off, it’s a draw, was not what we wanted, have to go to Seville and get it done there. We had the chances, we were confident in the game and I think we controlled the game, but unfortunately we gave easy goals away.”
Despite his disappointment, Sabitzer was pleased to have scored two goals and help his team. “It’s always good to score, and I’m happy to help the team in that way,” he said. “But at the end of the day, it’s about the team, and we didn’t get the result we wanted.”
Lisandro Martinez suffers serious injury
Martinez appeared to suffer a serious ankle injury and was carried off the pitch by two Sevilla players who are his Argentina teammates. United, bidding for their second trophy of the season after winning the League Cup, thought they had scored seconds after kickoff, but Jadon Sancho’s effort was disallowed for offside.
Sevilla, languishing in the bottom half of La Liga, were outplayed in the first half but they nearly got on the scoreboard seconds before the interval when De Gea stopped Tianguy Ninazou’s close-range header and Raphael Varane cleared it off the line.
United were reduced to 10 men when defender Lisandro Martinez was carried off injured and Youssef En-Nesyri’s stoppage-time header glanced off Harry Maguire into the goal to give Sevilla a huge lift ahead of next week’s second leg in Spain.
The second leg of the Europa League quarter-final will take place on Thursday, April 21, at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium in Seville, Spain. United will be looking to advance to the semi-finals of the competition, while Sevilla will be hoping to overturn the two away goals that United scored in the first leg.
