Ten Hag: It's not a nice night
Erik ten Hag says that while Manchester United's Europa League quarter-final tie against Sevilla remains in the balance at 2-2 after Thursday's first leg, his side were hampered by "bad luck" throughout the evening.
The Reds raced into a two-goal lead in the first half through a pair of well-taken finishes from Marcel Sabitzer, as our Spanish visitors struggled to cope with the dynamism of Erik's team.
But as United strived to extend the advantage, Sevilla grew into the game. Just moments after Jesus Navas's cross deflected in off Tyrell Malacia and David De Gea, Lisandro Martinez had to be carried from the field after going down without a challenge, leaving the Reds with 10 men after Ten Hag had already made all five of his allotted substitutions.
The visitors made their extra man pay, with Youssef En-Nesyri's late header taking a wicked deflection off Harry Maguire to outfox De Gea and level the proceedings.
Following the match, Ten Hag spoke to various media outlets as well as conducting his post-match press conference. Read on for Erik's key responses, in which he discusses Martinez and Raphael Varane, among other topics...
Ten Hag: We had bad luck with injuries
Erik ten Hag assesses the game at Old Trafford, after Sevilla dealt us two late stings in the tail...
UNLUCKY MOMENTS
"There were some unlucky moments, injuries. We had to make some subs with injuries. Rapha [Varane] at half-time. Also Anthony Martial, we had to sub him because it was his first game after [injury] - his first start. Antony as well, and Bruno [Fernandes] because they were close to a second booking. So we had to make some subs and then lose control in the unlucky moment [Sevilla's first goal]. Another unlucky moment with Licha Martinez. We have 10 [men] and we conceded two own goals. It was bad luck and we have to deal with that. Of course, we have to learn, we have to kill the game but still everything is open for the next game."
VARANE AND MARTINEZ UPDATE
"We have seen Licha Martinez drop out after a moment. There was no opponent involved so it doesn't look that great so we have to wait. I can't say in this moment [what it is], the same as Rapha. I think it is for after the game, but that injury, he [has] complained [about] over the last couple of weeks and we have to see how it is now."
DEALING WITH INJURIES
“We have very good replacements. Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw. We have the players who can replace them. But of course, it is a miss.”
THE SQUAD WILL ALL PLAY A PART
"We are competing in three competitions and then you need the squad. And if Licha Martinez and Rapha Varane are not available on Sunday, then others have to do it. And we have seen on Saturday, Harry Maguire had a good game. And tonight he came in and I think he played also a very good game."
Watch Ten Hag's press conference
Erik speaks to the media following United's 2-2 draw with Sevilla in our Europa League first leg...
THE TIE IS OPEN
"Bruno is suspended. Rashford, is he in or out? We don't know right now but still we have a good team, we can line up a very good team in the away game. It is 2-2 so everything is open and we have to play our best. We know that and if we bring our performance then we are confident that we can go to the next round."
LOOKING AHEAD TO FOREST
"Yeah, we know that we have a lot of games to deal with but therefore we have a squad and squad depth and I think until now we went very well. Today it was not our best day but we have to bounce back and make sure on Sunday we have the energy and focus when we go to Forest that we know what we are going [to face] there. They are fighting for their lives and we want to be in the top four. So then we have to give the best performance and the best team performance."