Three trophies in a season? It is being discussed in the blue half of Manchester – the ultimate treble – and the United support had to be thinking of their own version of one as they led Sevilla by two goals to advertise a step into the semi-finals of the Europa League. The Carabao Cup is already in the cabinet while an FA Cup semi-final looms against Brighton on Sunday week.
And yet a night that contained such promise, which featured a two-goal salvo from Marcel Sabitzer – the biggest return so far on his January loan from Bayern Munich – plus fine displays by Antony and Anthony Martial, who was back in the starting XI, ended with quite the sting. Actually a few of them.
United might have had a third goal on 82 minutes when the substitute Wout Weghorst found space after a Sabitzer back-heel. He might have shot but chose instead to go back to Tyrell Malacia, and it was not close enough to the full-back’s left foot. Malacia checked and unloaded too late. The effort was blocked.
It did not feel like the biggest problem for United. Until then, that had been the injury which forced off Raphaël Varane at half-time. Or maybe the harsh handball booking for Bruno Fernandes that rules him out of the second leg. Yet United’s evening was about to disintegrate, with Malacia the catalyst at the other end.
Malacia suffered a few jittery moments and it is harsh but true to say he is a long way from being at the level of Luke Shaw, the injured first-choice left-back. Malacia erred horribly in the 84th minute, misreading the bounce of a ball and allowing the Sevilla substitute Jesús Navas in behind him to cross. It would flick off Malacia and flash past David de Gea for an own goal.
Downgrades on preferred selections was a theme of the evening for United. Harry Maguire for Varane was nobody’s idea of a like-for-like swap and nor was Weghorst for Martial or Anthony Elanga for Jadon Sancho. Weghorst and Elanga were two parts of a triple substitution just after the hour, Christian Eriksen also coming on for Fernandes.
It felt at the time as though Erik ten Hag was tempting fate. Then again, United had been dominant. The manager was left to count the cost as his team fell apart after the Malacia aberration.
There would be another body blow when Lisandro Martínez was forced off; a hammer blow given his excellence throughout the season. He was carried off by his World Cup-winning Argentina teammates Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuña; they wanted him away quickly because they knew that United – who had used their substitutes and were down to 10 men – were there for the taking.
De Gea beat away a shot from the substitute Suso, then saved brilliantly from another replacement, Youssef En-Nesyri. But Sevilla found the stoppage-time equaliser to delight their vociferous fans when En-Nesyri rose to meet another cross. His header banged into Maguire’s forehead – it had to be Maguire – and went in for a second own goal.
The United inquest will rage. How could they have surrendered the initiative to the team that sit 13th in La Liga, are on to their third manager of a traumatic season and had made sweeping changes to the line-up before a relegation six-pointer at Valencia on Sunday? Ten Hag’s decisions, usually so sound, were a part of it.
It had been impossible to foresee the turnaround before the triple change and, indeed, when Malacia missed his chance, even if United were losing their spark. How they had sparked, bringing the intensity at the outset, Antony on song and Martial in the mood to make up for lost time.
It was a quick switch of feet from Martial followed by an impudent flick inside that got United moving for the opening goal, Fernandes playing the final pass, Sabitzer finishing with the aid of a slight deflection off Marcao.
United had gone close early on, Sancho running on to an Antony pass to finish only to be pulled back for offside; Antony shimmying, playing a give-and-go and extending Bono. Now they turned the screw. Martial played in Sabitzer on the counter and the midfielder again felt nothing but ice in his veins when confronted by the Sevilla goalkeeper.
United might have scored more before the interval but they still needed De Gea to make an excellent save to keep out a 45th minute header from Tanguy Nianzou. The ball looped high and Varane completed the clearance with a back header from under his crossbar.
It was niggly, Antony versus Acuna bubbling throughout. Erik Lamela left a boot in on the returning Casemiro for a booking – the VAR said no to red – and Nemanja Gudelj scissor-kicked Casemiro in the head for another card in dark orange territory. Antony ran through on the hour to curl against the woodwork and, when he was substituted on 81 minutes, the home crowd rose to acclaim. They and their team would finish on their knees.
