Sevilla wrecks Manchester United’s Europa League title hopes

Manchester United’s final hope of ending the season with silverware was dashed by a clinical and compact Sevilla side that came from a goal behind to win and secure a spot in the Europa League final.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were not lucky for a third time as the Reds lost yet another semi-final after they had been knocked out in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup last four earlier this season. This time, they were undone by a combination of defensive errors and a lack of clinical finishing.

Manchester United made the ideal start by winning and converting their 22nd penalty of the season though when Bruno Fernandes slotted home from the spot after Marcus Rashford was fouled by Diego Carlos. But Sevilla were level shortly afterward through former Liverpool winger Suso during an entertaining first half.

Mason Greenwood, Anthony Martial, Bruno Fernandes, and Marcus Rashford all had chances to put United ahead after the restart but couldn’t convert. They were eventually made to rue all those lost chances when Luuk de Jong tapped home late on after some poor defending from Victor Lindelof and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

Five-time Europa League winners Sevilla will await the result from Monday’s tie between Inter Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk to know who their opponents would be in the final, which will take place in Cologne on Friday.

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Wasteful United pay the painful price

Manchester United missed out on the chance to lift their first trophy since they won this same tournament under former manager Jose Mourinho more than three years ago as their long season came to a bitterly and disappointing end.

United have only themselves to hold accountable for a lack of killer instinct in front of goal, especially after the restart of the match in Cologne when Sevilla’s goalkeeper Bounou denied them a host of chances.

It left Sevilla in the hunt for a 6th Europa League trophy as they have proven before that they are experts at finding a way to win in the Europa League, helped by awful United defending as they switched off from Navas’ cross, with Lindelof and Aaron Wan-Bissaka culpable.

Luuk De Jong’s slotted home the late winner to ease the Spanish side past a lacklustre and tired United side.

Stats and facts from the match (Backed by Opta)

• Sevilla have reached their sixth Uefa Cup/Europa League final, at least two more than any other side.
• Manchester United have now been eliminated from European competition by Spanish opposition for the third consecutive campaign.
• Sevilla are now unbeaten in 20 games, just the fourth different side within Europe’s top five leagues this season to enjoy such a run (also Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain and Real Madrid).
• Including both their quarter-final victory over FC Copenhagen and their match with Sevilla, Manchester United had 46 shots, with 21 hitting the target – however, the Red Devils have managed just two goals from the penalty spot in those matches with a conversion rate of 4.4%.
• Manchester United have been awarded 22 penalties in all competitions this season, the most by a side in a single campaign within Europe’s top five leagues since Barcelona in 2015-16 (24).
• Since his Manchester United debut on 1 February, only Robert Lewandowski (28) and Lionel Messi (27) have had a direct hand in more goals in all competitions than Bruno Fernandes (20 – 12 goals, eight assists) within Europe’s top five leagues.
• Bruno Fernandes has scored 100% of the 14 penalties he has taken in all competitions this season, netting six for Sporting Lisbon.