Sevilla 3 United 0

Erik ten Hag’s men went into the tie on the back of the 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, but conceded an early goal when Youssef En-Nesyri capitalised on a defensive slip to put the former Spanish side ahead.

And after a minute of play in the second half, Loic Bade’s shoulder strike from a Ivan Rakitic corner lofted the ball over David De Gea to double the lead for the home side.

The game was put to bed when De Gea rushed out of his goal to collect the ball, but our keeper's touch only let in En-Nesyri and he pounced to make it 3-0 to set up a semi-final tie with Juventus.

United rarely threatened, in truth, against bullish opponents, historically excellent in this competition, who were roared on by their home fans.

FIRST HALF - WORST POSSIBLE START

Both sides started the game moving the ball in and around their respective penalty areas without properly David De Gea or Yassine Bounou in the goals. But just seven minutes into the game, De Gea’s short pass picked out Harry Maguire just outside the area. The Reds skipper tried a first time pass to Aaron Wan-Bissaka, but it was intercepted quickly by En-Nesyri, and he pounced by firing the ball home to open the scoring for the home side.

United finally got an opportunity to burst into life midway through the half, with Jadon Sancho dancing past Jesus Navas on the left-wing. The Reds winger laid a pass off to Antony on the edge of the area, who shot first time but it deflected off Marcel Sabitzer, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka picking it up and hitting a low driven shot straight into the arms of Bounou.

The six-time Europa League champions would then try to search for their second. Nemanja Gudelj with a perfect rabona pass, floated the ball onto the head of En-Nesyri. The Morocco striker nodded the ball down into the path of Lucas Ocampos, but De Gea was able to meet the Argentinian on his line and clear the ball away. 

A second goal for Sevilla looked to have come as a hammer blow to our hopes. Casemiro’s pass was intercepted by Marcos Acuna, who gave a quick give-and-go pass with En-Nesyri before feeding Ocampos. The South American blasted a shot past De Gea to give his side what looked to be their second of the game, until VAR spotted that Acuna was in a offside position when delivering the cross, which resulting in the goal being overturned. 

Just before the end of the half, Ocampos manged to break through the United defence to deliver a dangerous cross, which Antony nudged behind for a corner. The resulting set-piece was cleared as far as Ivan Rakitic, who volleyed towards goal, only to be blocked by the shoulder of Casemiro as the hosts deserved their advantage at the interval.

SECOND HALF - GAME OVER

Moments into the second half, the home side quickly took control of the game with another early goal. Rakitic’s corner floated into the direction of Bade, who got the better of Casemiro and the ball soared off his shoulder and over the outstretched hand of De Gea and in off the bar to make it 2-0 for Sevilla.

Rakitic then came close to putting the tie out of sight for the hosts, with a bending strike that forced De Gea to make the save. The resulting corner fell to Ocampos, who tried to tap in from close range, before a scramble between the United and Sevilla players ensued to claim the ball, with Casemiro eventually smashing it clear.

Casemiro received a booking for bringing down Nemanja Gudelj near the centre circle, resulting in the referee issuing a yellow card. This would be that the Brazilian enforcer would have missed the first leg of the semi-final of the Europa League if the Reds had progressed. 

United’s first opportunity of the second-half fell to Casemiro with half an hour to go. Sabitzer managed to lay it off to the Brazilian midfielder, who tried a long-range strike with his left foot from just outside the area, forcing Yassine Bounou to drive to his right to make the save.

Christian Eriksen then tried his luck from long range when United managed to win a free-kick close to the Sevilla penalty area. Eriksen and substitutes Marcus Rashford and Fred all stood around the ball, before the Denmark international chose to step up to strike the ball, but the shot ended up sailing just off target.

With 10 minutes to go, De Gea’s miscontrol of a hopeful long ball allowed Sevilla to capitalise and seal the game with a third goal. En-Nesyri calmly curled the ball around the Spaniard from a long way out to pile on the misery for the hugely disappointing Reds.

MATCH DETAILS

Sevilla: Bounou, Jesus Navas, Bade, Marco (Suso, 28) Acuna (Telles, 84) Gudelj, Fernando, Ocampos, Rakitic, Lamela (Bryan Gil, 79) En-Nesyri

Substitutes not used: Dmitrovic, Alberto Flores, Rekik, Rafa Mir, Nianzou, Oliver Torres, Gomez.

Goals: En-Nesyri 8,81 Bade 47

Booked: Bounou.

United: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka (Shaw, 46) Maguire, Lindelof, Dalot, Casemiro, Eriksen (Elanga, 86) Antony, Sabitzer (Fred, 67) Sancho (Rashford, 46) Martial (Weghorst, 53).

Substitutes not used: Butland, Vitek, Malacia, Iqbal, Pellistri,

Booked: Casemiro, Antony, Shaw.