Sevilla advanced to the Europa League final after defeating Manchester United 2-1 at the Koln Stadium, Monday (17/8). Luuk de Jong became the hero of Sevilla’s victory.
In the first half the two teams drew 1-1. Manchester United took the lead first through Bruno Fernandes’ penalty kick in the ninth minute.
Paul Pogba and his friends were given a penalty because Marcus Rashford was tackled by Diego Carlos.
Sevilla responded to the conceding in the 26th minute with Suso’s return goal utilizing Sergio Reguillon’s low pass.
At the beginning of the second half Greenwood almost brought Manchester United ahead. After receiving Fernandes’ breakthrough bait, Greenwood’s right foot shot still hit Bounou’s right thigh.
Manchester United’s insistent attacks in the 50th minute also failed to thrill the Sevilla goal. Starting from a kick from Martial which Bounous pushed over. A moment later it was Fernandes’ turn to kick the opponent’s defense and result in a corner.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side had plenty of second-half goal chances. However, the finish of their attacking line was not optimal. Martial had twice the chances that Bounou could block in the 52nd and 53rd minutes’.
The preoccupation with attacking made Manchester United lose concentration with the defense sector. Victor Lindelof and Aaron Wan-Bissaka failed to guard the movement of substitute Luuk de Jong.
De Jong, who moved from behind without difficulty placing the ball into the Manchester United goal after receiving Jesus Navas’ assist in the 78th minute.
In the rest of the match, Manchester United had difficulty dismantling the Sevilla defense. The condition was different from the beginning of the second half where Manchester United’s attack line was so aggressive.
In injury time, Sevilla almost increased the lead. However, De Jong was late in passing the ball to his partner so that the Manchester United defense could be cut.
Fernandes and Lindelof were caught on camera at odds in the middle of the field after Luuk de Jong’s goal. The two of them got into an argument until they pointed at each other’s faces.
The Portuguese playmaker appeared to blame Lindelof for Sevilla’s second goal. However, Lindelof did not accept Fernandes’ warning.
After the match, Fernandes admitted there was no problem with Lindelof.
“I think that’s commonplace. When you concede in 10 minutes of normal time it ends everyone is upset. It’s not about me and victor but the whole team,” Fernandes told BT Sport.
“What happened to Victor and me is normal in football. Most importantly we need to correct mistakes and look to next season,” he said.
These results make Manchester United failed to win the title this season despite three appearances in the semifinals. Sevilla has the right to advance to the top party waiting for the winner of Inter Milan vs Shakhtar Donetsk who will compete in the early hours.
