Manchester United is out of the Champions League after a disappointing display at Old Trafford. The Red Devils followed up a disappointing 0-0 draw away to Sevilla with a 2-1 loss at home, with Wissam Ben Yedder scoring both goals for the visitors.
Sevilla stuns Manchester United, knocks Red Devils out of Champions League
Just a minute after coming off the bench, Sevilla leading scorer Wissam Ben Yedder scored the goal to end United’s campaign.
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
The first half featured a lot of Sevilla possession and shots, but few chances. The visitors recorded 10 shot attempts during the first 45 minutes, but the majority were not threatening, and only one was on target. United had fewer promising attacks, but it had the best one of the period — Marouane Fellaini was denied from close range by Sergio Rico in the 38th minute.
United was the better side to start the second half, and started to move the ball better when Paul Pogba replaced Fellaini in the 60th minute. But the game’s decisive substitution was made by Sevilla in the 72nd minute, when Ben Yedder — Sevilla’s leading scorer in the Champions League and overall — replaced the largely ineffective Luis Muriel.
It only took one minute for Ben Yedder to make an impact. Off a turnover by United, Sevilla got forward quickly, with Pablo Sarabia setting up the chance with an excellent through ball. Ben Yedder took a sharp first touch, setting up a simple finish from 15 yards to give Sevilla the lead, and just as importantly, one more away goal than United.
Before the 80th minute, Sevilla doubled its lead, with Ben Yedder capitalizing on a set piece. A corner by Joaquín Correa drifted to the back post, where Ben Yedder was poorly marked. David De Gea got a hand to his header, but couldn’t do enough to keep the ball from crossing the line.
The Red Devils made proceedings a bit more interesting in the 84th minute, getting on the board through a corner. Marcus Rashford’s delivery looked like it was too short, but Sevilla’s defenders let it bounce, and it fell perfectly for Romelu Lukaku to smash it into the back of the net.
Unfortunately for the home side, Sevilla’s lead proved insurmountable, and the Champions League got its first big upset of the knockout stage.
Manchester United: De Gea; Young, Bailly, Smalling, Valencia (Mata 77’) Matic, Fellaini (Pogba 60’), Rashford, Sanchez, Lingard (Martial 77’), Lukaku
Goals: Lukaku (84’)
Sevilla: Rico; Escudero, Kjaer, Lenglet, Mercado, Nzonzi, Benega, Correa (Geis 90’), Sarabia, Vazquez (Pizarro 88’), Muriel (Ben Yedder 72’)
Goals: Ben Yedder (72’, 78’)
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