‘Unacceptable’: Manchester United humbled by embarrassing errors in Europa loss to Sevilla

In an oppressively loud atmosphere, United met cacophony with calamity. They never recovered from conceding an early goal which, through a horrible misjudgment by Harry Maguire and David de Gea, they inflicted on themselves and another De Gea howler ten minutes from time garnished their misery.

Erik ten Hag accused his side of lacking the will to win. “It’s not about playing skills. It is about character, desire and passion. They had more willingness to win. It’s unacceptable,” the United manager said.

“When you make such mistakes it’s difficult to win a football game,” he added. “Tonight we weren’t ready for the game and that cannot be. This is a great occasion and opportunity to win something and we gave it away. We have to blame ourselves.”

United will reflect that they lost control of this tie in the first leg at Old Trafford. For so much of that match, they had Sevilla on the rack, but they scored only two goals, less than their dominance merited, then let their opponents climb off the ropes with two late own goals. If the first leg exposed a lack of ringcraft, a frailty of temperament, this second underlined personnel deficiencies: De Gea’s flaws, the lack of centre back depth, and the absence of a reliable second creator besides Bruno Fernandes.

The atmosphere was febrile and the sense of an uncomfortable evening in the offing was reinforced by an early incident in which the Sevilla defender Marcao barged an already falling Marcel Sabitzer over the sideline, causing the midfielder to strike his head on a coolbox. Thankfully, the Austrian was chilled, not iced, and he was able to continue.

Then came a moment of brain-freeze. De Gea received a pass from his left and Aaron Wan-Bissaka split out wide, open to receive. But Maguire, with three Sevilla forwards converging on him in a pincer movement, inexplicably called for the pass, and then tried to shuffle it first time to Wan-Bissaka, via a passing lane that had been cut off by Erik Lamela. The Argentina star made the interception, Youssef En-Nesyri took over and slotted the ball into the bottom left corner past a nonplussed De Gea, who was no less at fault for the calamity. United’s No 1 is a man with golden gloves but feet of clay.

United, slowly, began to settle. A brilliant pass by Casemiro, receiving on the half-turn under pressure but somehow managing to clip the ball to Christian Eriksen, launched an attack which was extended by nice work on the left from Jadon Sancho. It ended with Wan-Bissaka having a weak shot from the right saved. But United still looked conspicuously vulnerable at the back and the confidence sluicing through the veins of the home team was evident. Nemanja Gudelj dinked a delightful rabona cross to the far post, Lamela won the header against Victor Lindelof and his knock-down trickled agonisingly into the goalmouth, where Maguire and De Gea did just enough to thwart the onrushing Lucas Ocampos.

An injury to Marcao forced Sevilla into a reshuffle, with Gudelj going to centre back and Suso coming on, but it didn’t break their flow. United were lucky to survive when they were cut open moments later, Suso dallying too long and allowing Lindelof to make a last-ditch block. And then they got an even bigger reprieve. A cross from the left found Ocampos on the edge of the box and he had time to take a steadying touch, before billowing the top-right corner of De Gea’s net. But Marcos Acuna, the crosser, was deemed to be inches offside, and the goal was chalked off on review. Another Maguire error, this time a poor pass following a United corner, allowed Sevilla to launch a lightning counter at a dishevelled defence, but Ten Hag’s team made it to half-time only one down.

At half-time, Ten Hag brought on Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw, with Sancho and Wan-Bissaka making way and Diogo Dalot shifting over to right back. But the positive intent of that change was soon subsumed in the disaster of an almost immediate Sevilla goal. Ivan Rakitic delivered an outswinging corner and the French centre-back Loic Bade made an inadvertent but telling contact with his shoulder, which looped the ball over De Gea and landed behind the goalline, via a brush off the underside of the crossbar.

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Wout Weghorst replaced Anthony Martial but his lack of precision cost United a couple of opportunities in transition. A turnover deep in Sevilla’s defensive third gave them a chance, but the Holland striker’s channel pass to Rashford was overhit, then he took a clumsy touch when Bono’s poor clearance fell to him with Sevilla briefly left defending an empty net.

Weghorst had a shot blocked by Rakitic as another United opening was snuffed out. Eriksen played a couple of uncharacteristically sloppy passes, sapping United’s momentum. They were badly missing the chance creation and the incandescent belligerence of Fernandes. A free kick presented Eriksen with an opportunity to seize the moment but his curling shot drifted wide.

Sevilla were playing with all the savvy and sovereignty of a team who have made this competition their kingdom. They have won it six times, four since its rebranding, and they should probably be considered favourites to add another title. Their destruction of United was complete when a long ball forward enticed De Gea to come out of his area. Whether he was attempting to control the ball or clear it upfield, he made a mess of it, pitifully miskicking the ball a few metres to his right, and allowing En-Nesyri to float a second goal over his head. Ten Hag has his work cut out to pick his team up for the FA Cup semi-final against Brighton on Sunday.

Originally published as ‘Unacceptable’: Manchester United humbled by embarrassing errors in Europa loss to Sevilla