EUROPA League
Erik ten Hag blasts shambolic Manchester United
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has slammed his players for lacking passion and that the manner of their Europa League quarter-final exit was “unacceptable”, following a 3-0 loss at Sevilla on Thursday.
Youssef En Nesyri scored twice at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium as the home side, who are struggling in 13th in the Spanish La Liga, cast aside their domestic struggles to go through 5-2 on aggregate.
United put in a listless and error-strewn performance, with goalkeeper David de Gea and defender Harry Maguire culpable for a couple of Sevilla’s goals.
Asked if Sevilla displayed more fight than his side, ten Hag said: “I have to acknowledge, it’s the truth. It’s hard, it’s tough, but it’s the truth.
“Tonight we weren’t good enough, that was obvious, that was clear.”
The Dutchman added that his side simply had to show more desire and more composure on the ball, which they failed to do so.
“When you get a setback, you have to deal with it, and carry on… It’s not about playing skills, it’s about character. So be composed and have desire and passion,” he said.
“Sevilla had more willingness to win. I think that’s unacceptable.”
The home fans created a raucous atmosphere even before kick-off, which set the tone for the game.
Once En Nesyri scored after seven minutes following a Maguire error, the visitors never looked like getting back into the game.
Loic Bade headed home early in the second half and En Nesyri added another after de Gea failed to clear the ball.
Despite Sevilla’s struggles in La Liga, in which they are still not safe from the threat of relegation, the Andalusians outfought and outplayed United, who are third in the Premier League.
The Red Devils failed to trouble Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou all night, with a Casemiro effort from distance as close as they came.
Sevilla coach Jose Luis Mendilibar said his side followed the game plan and did not allow United to get a foothold in the game.
“Our idea was to press them when they had the ball at the back, I think it went quite well, we scored the first goal robbing the ball on the edge of their box,” he said.
“I think we were superior and I think it was the merit of our players.”
The Spaniards will take on Juventus in the semi-finals, while the other last-four clash will see Roma face Bayer Leverkusen.
United were missing their first-choice centre-back pairing of Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane due to injury, which led to Maguire – who has been out of favour all season – being paired alongside Victor Lindelof.
Maguire is suspended for this Sunday’s FA Cup semi-finals against Brighton & Hove Albion, and some fans may feel that is a positive because of his defensive calamities.
But left-back Luke Shaw, who will supposedly partner Lindelof at Wembley, is also a concern after being rushed back from injury in the second half and again suffering a knock.
–Reuters/AFP
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim defended under-fire goalkeeper Andre Onana following the Cameroonian’s costly mistakes in his side’s 2-2 draw at Olympique Lyonnais in their Europa League quarter-final first leg on Thursday.
Onana allowed Thiago Almada’s free kick to squirm past him in the Groupama Stadium and was also at fault for Rayan Cherki’s last-gasp equaliser that denied United victory.
Since the start of last season, no Premier League club’s goalkeeper has made more errors leading to goals being conceded in all competitions than Onana.
“It can happen, if you play football, you play a lot of games, you can make mistakes,” Amorim said. “If you look at the season, I make more mistakes than them during these last games and these last months.
“The other thing is we have one more game to change everything and that should be our focus.
“The best thing is to look at the goals, all the actions that Andre had in the game, this is the best way to help any player, it’s to focus on the game, what happened, what we need to improve.”
United nonetheless remain unbeaten in this season’s Europa League — the only side to do so this term — after goals from Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee put them on course for a potential victory.
The team, who are 13th in the English Premier League standings, still go into next week’s second leg in Manchester as favourites to book a spot in the last four.
“It was an entertaining game,” Amorim added. “We had some difficulty in the first half trying to press, because Lyon played in a different way. Then, in the middle of the first half and especially the second, we controlled the game.
“The second leg will be a different game. At home, our fans want us to press all the time.”
-Reuters
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Manchester United will be without defender Harry Maguire and midfielder Manuel Ugarte for Thursday’s Europa League last-16 clash with Real Sociedad, coach Ruben Amorim said, as he seeks to salvage an otherwise dire season.
The pair were left out of an already depleted squad after picking up injuries in last weekend’s penalty shootout defeat to Fulham that dumped them out of the FA Cup to compound the misery of lying 14th in the Premier League.
“We are being careful with them because at the moment we cannot afford to lose any more players for a long time,” Amorim told a press conference on Wednesday before the Europa League first leg game in Spain.
“We are taking care of them at Carrington (training ground) and they cannot play this game because it will be a greater risk.”
The coach, who joined United in November, stressed the importance of balancing youth development with the needs of the squad during a worsening injury crisis.
“I’m trying to cope with everything. When I do my squad, I’m trying to think about every aspect, of the formation of the (new) kids, of the squad and not if it will look really well with the fans and the media,” Amorim said.
Altay Bayindir, Tom Heaton, Jonny Evans, Kobbie Mainoo, Luke Shaw and Mason Mount remain on individual rehabilitation programmes.
Lisandro Martinez, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament, and Amad Diallo, who suffered an ankle ligament injury in training, are also sidelined.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes scored a last-gasp winner to secure a 2-1 victory over Rangers in the Europa League group stage on Thursday and Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min struck twice in his team’s 3-2 win at Hoffenheim.
United climbed to fourth in the standings on 15 points going into the last round of matches, in a strong position to reach the knockout phase along with Spurs who are sixth with 14 points.
The English side broke the deadlock early in the second half when Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland misjudged a Christian Eriksen corner, sending the ball into his own net.
Rangers fought back with an equaliser from substitute Cyril Dessers two minutes from time before Fernandes struck in added time to give United all three points.
In Germany, James Maddison opened the scoring for Spurs in the third minute and Son doubled the lead in a first half the visitors dominated.
Hoffenheim pulled one back in the 68th minute through Anton Stach’s counter-attack goal. Son restored Spurs’ two-goal lead in the 77th minute before the hosts’ David Mokwa scored to give his side late hope but the game ended in a narrow win for the English side.
Lazio stayed top of the standings with a commanding 3-1 home victory over Real Sociedad to become the first team to qualify for the round of 16.
Mario Gila struck after five minutes and when Sociedad’s Aihen Munoz was shown a second yellow card on the half-hour mark, Lazio immediately seized the advantage.
Mattia Zaccagni quickly doubled the lead and Taty Castellanos effectively ended the match with a third for the hosts. Ander Barrenetxea scored a late consolation goal for Sociedad.
Eintracht Frankfurt moved closer to securing a top-eight spot with a 2-0 home win over Hungarian side Ferencvaros thanks to second-half goals from Can Uzun and Hugo Ekitike. They are second in the standings with 16 points, three ahead of ninth-placed Galatasaray.
A late goal from Troy Parrott gave AZ Alkmaar a 1-0 home win over AS Roma and Olympiacos earned a 1-0 victory at Porto thanks to a late goal from Ayoub El Kaabi.
Dutch side Alkmaar can still reach the top eight with 11 points sitting in 14th place while Roma’s nine points place them 21st, close to the bottom of the playoff section.
Fenerbahce and Olympique Lyonnais played out an intense goalless draw in Istanbul, leaving the French side in a strong position to progress to fifth place in the group on 14 points.
-Reuters
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