NIGHT-MOUR
Manchester United 1 Sevilla 2: Wissam Ben Yedder comes off bench to dump dire Red Devils out of Champions League
Romelu Lukaku's late strike not enough to save Red Devils as pressure mounts on Jose Mourinho
THEY are down among the dead men.
The great Manchester United, one of the biggest scalps in European football, are a last 16 side.
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Thanks for coming fellas, now let the big boys take it on from there.
It will hurt Jose Mourinho, twice winner of the biggest trophy in European club football during his decorated managerial career.
This has to hurt his players more. They were an embarrassment, taught a brutal European lesson by this tactically astute Sevilla side.
The Spanish side did a number on them, with substitute Wissam Ben Yedder scoring twice in a remarkable four minute spell towards the end.
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Romelu Lukaku’s strike a few minutes from the end is a pitiful, empty consolation.
Sevilla’s goals, after keeping United out in the first half, had been coming.
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This is a ruinous night for Mourinho, an abject, dreadful, terrible performance at Old Trafford.
United should be ashamed of this display, given the run-around inside their own stadium by this sprightly Sevilla side. Mourinho was out-Mourinhoed.
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At half-time the scoreline suited Sevilla. The full-time score, more so.
They played on United’s nerves, adding to the anxiety around the place with a solid, last-ditch defensive display. At times it had to be.
United were after the opener, the goal that could take them through to the quarter-final for the first time since the doomed David Moyes era.
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Saturday’s heroes, the men who put Liverpool away when they won 2-1 in the race for second at the weekend, were after another big win.
Well, they went from joyous to joyless in the space of four days.
United were poor in that first half, failing to hit those dizzying heights again in this quarter-final tie.
“Attack, attack, attack,” demanded the old Scoreboard End towards the end of the first half. It was tempting to join in.
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Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Romelu Lukaku were too busy firing blanks.
Rashford, securing his place after his double against Liverpool from the left, inexplicably started this tie on the opposite flank.
United were struggling out there, desperate for some inspiration or intervention during a listless, painful first half.
The Champions League is the Special One’s bag, the one tournament that means more to him than any other after winning it with Porto and Inter Milan.
His players failed to follow his instructions, lacking conviction and the wherewithal to find a way through this packed Sevilla defence.
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They knew what they were coming up against, especially after drawing 0-0 at the Ramon Sanchez Pijuan a few weeks back.
United, whatever their shortcomings, were meant to find a way through.
Mourinho’s men were supposed to set the tone, with Lukaku firing over when he played a neat wall pass with Lingard in the first minute.
That should have been all the encouragement they needed for wave after wave of attack. It never came, not really.
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Marouane Fellaini, preferred in the centre of the park to £89m man Paul Pogba, had a decent effort saved by Sergio Rico before the break.
Instead they had some work to do to keep Sevilla out, with Joaquin Correa’s flashing header over the bar and Franco Vazquez shovelling an effort over David de Gea’s bar. Mourinho had seen enough.
He sent for Pogba, thrusting this misfit midfielder into the action at the expense of Fellaini before the hour. United needed a showreel performance out of him.
Pogba, who missed the win over Liverpool through injury, owed Mourinho a match-winning half hour.
Instead they were relying on Rashford, out on the left for the second when the Special One moved Alexis Sanchez to the right.
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Rashford’s pace, those electrifying bursts, finally gave Sevilla something to think about. It was not nearly enough.
Sanchez is struggling, his body language a throwback to his bad, moody ways when he wanted away from Arsenal. United did not need that.
They conceded after 74 minutes, with substitute Wissam Ben Yedder choosing his spot to beat de Gea.
It was the sweetest move, with Sevilla slicing their way through this United side on the way to scoring the first goal.
Mourinho reacted, sending for Anthony Martial and Juan Mata to replace Lingard and captain Antonio Valencia. By then they were paralysed by fear.
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Ben Yedder, causing havoc after coming on as a substitute, finished off United when he got another.
His shirt was off in celebration, throwing it to the ground after ending United’s Champions League ambitions.
Lukaku pulled a goal back six minutes from time, but by then they needed three.
That, as anybody watching this shocker knew, was never going to happen.
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