Two late own goals denied Manchester United victory over Sevilla in Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final tie at Old Trafford.
Sevilla salvaged a 2-2 draw in the game that saw United cruising to victory through two goals from Marcel Sabitzer inside the opening 21 minutes as obtained by News About Nigeria.
But the loss of centre-backs Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez to injury proved costly as Tyrell Malacia and Harry Maguire deflected balls into their own net in the final six minutes plus stoppage time.
The English side will also have to cope without Bruno Fernandes for the second leg on April 20 after he picked up a yellow card that leads to a suspension.
The home side was without 28-goal top scorer Marcus Rashford due to injury, but still made light work of the Spaniards before half-time as Sabitzer struck twice.
The Austrian midfielder had scored only once for United in 12 previous appearances but twice pierced through the Sevilla defense with well-timed runs and composed finishes.
Anthony Martial’s return from injury is a timely boost for Erik Ten Hag with Rashford set to be sidelined for a few weeks.
Martial’s tactical play saw the ball worked to Fernandes, who fired a ball into Sabitzer’s feet and the on-loan Bayern Munich midfielder drove the ball into Sevilla’s net.
Just a few moments later Sabitzer had his second. Martial was this time the creator with a perfect pass-through for Sabitzer to again leave Sevilla’s goal tender Bono no chance.
United midfielder Casemiro’s made his first appearance in the game for nearly a month due to a four-game Premier League ban.
The Brazilian should have marked his return with a goal after more good clinical balls from Martial but failed to see the back of the net.
