Sevilla 3-0 Man United (agg: 5-2): En-Nesyri double downs Red Devils

Six-time winners Sevilla continued their quest for yet another UEFA Europa League trophy after despatching Man United in the quarter-final second leg at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán.

Match in brief: Sevilla power past Red Devils

En-Nesyri nips in to score the opening goalAFP via Getty Images

The home side, buoyed by a stunning two-goal comeback at Old Trafford seven days earlier, displayed their intentions from the off with a high press and that tactic paid dividends just eight minutes in.

The introduction of Youssef En-Nesyri as a late substitute had tipped the first leg back into Sevilla's favour, sparking the fightback as José Luis Mendilibar's side rescued a draw. The home coach rewarded the Moroccan forward with a start and he was instrumental in the opening goal.

En-Nesyri was one of three Los Hispalenses players who surrounded Harry Maguire in possession on the edge of the box. This left the United defender with nowhere to turn in playing the ball out from the back, his pass charged down by former Tottenham attacker Erik Lamela to allow En-Nesyri to gain possession and guide a low left-footed shot into the bottom left of the goal past a static David de Gea.

Sevilla peppered the United goal in search of a second and had the ball in the net five minutes before the interval courtesy of Lucas Ocampos' curling strike, but Marcos Acuña had strayed offside in the build-up.

With his side up against it, United manager Erik ten Hag made two half-time changes, introducing top scorer Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw in a bid to regain a foothold in the tie.

Instead Sevilla doubled their lead two minutes after the restart. Their set pieces were a constant worry for the visiting defence and Ivan Rakitić's corner from the right was met emphatically by Loïc Badé, who looped a header over De Gea and into the net via the underside of the crossbar.

Badé scored his second goal in as many gamesAFP via Getty Images

It was another Rakitić set piece which almost helped the Liga side to another, En-Nesyri's header from the Croatian's delivery blocked by Shaw. Ocampos was quickest to the rebound, but could not force the ball past De Gea from close range.

Sevilla were ruthless going forward and settled the contest nine minutes from time. De Gea came off his line to clear a high clearance from the Sevilla defence, but his mis-kick gave En-Nesyri another sight of goal. Just inside the final third and to the left of goal, the Moroccan international collected the loose ball before steering into the unguarded net.

Simon Hart, Sevilla reporter

What a night for Sevilla, who produced a magnificent, relentless display to overwhelm United. They flew out of the blocks, got their early goal through the in-form En-Nesyri and did not let up, urged on by a raucous home crowd. The giant banner at the home end before kick-off declared them to be "Lords and Masters" of this tournament and it felt that way tonight. A wonderful night too for Mendilibar, whose impact since arriving in Seville was underlined by the manner of his first victory as a coach in this competition.

Steve Bates, Man United reporter

Not the way Ten Hag envisaged United's Europa League campaign would end, but in truth they were well beaten. The chance to progress to the semi-finals was lost in Manchester when they let a 2-0 lead slip while in the ascendancy, and tonight United were unable to deal with Sevilla's high-energy press. Despite a raft of key injuries, Ten Hag was hopeful his side could pull off victory coming into the contest, but they never managed to find their rhythm.

Reaction 

José Luis Mendilibar, Sevilla coach: "This is a team that's used to greater things. We came from an awkward situation in Manchester, where we drew 2-2 without doing things right, and people believed that we could do it. In the end we did it. It's surprising for us to win a game against Manchester United without struggling and with such forcefulness. It's not easy."

Fernando, Sevilla midfielder: "It was a magical night. I'm very happy, as this season we've not lived these moments of euphoria, of happiness. We've been through a difficult moment in the Spanish league but now we aim to change the mindset and carry on in this way."

Christian Eriksen, Man United midfielder, speaking to BT Sport: "We didn't really get in the game from the first minute but we gave them a lot of opportunities. We lost a bit of our coolness in the build-up, we made more mistakes than we normally do. We could have caught up on the mistakes we made but we didn't. If we give away goals as we did today, we will lose."

Erik ten Hag, Man United manager, speaking to BT Sport: "It's clear that when we make such mistakes, it's very difficult to win a football game. We have to do better. That's a demand. We were not composed, we were not calm. There were bad decisions. We lost the battles. They had more passion, more desire, more willingness. That makes it difficult to win big football games. It is a problem. We can't run away from it but we have to step up and show more character and personality."

The half-time introduction of top scorer Rashford could not stem the Sevilla tideGetty Images

Key stats

• The average age of the Sevilla starting XI was 30 years 295 days – their oldest ever for a fixture in this competition.
• En-Nesyri's opening goal was his 50th in all competitions for Sevilla.
• Sevilla have only failed to score in one of their last 27 home Europa League matches.
• Man United have been eliminated from UEFA competition by a Spanish club in each of the past six campaigns.

Line-ups

Sevilla: Bounou; Navas, Badé, Marcão (Suso 29), Acuña (Telles 84); Gudelj, Fernando; Ocampos, Rakitić, Lamela (Gil 80); En-Nesyri

Man United: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka (Shaw 46), Maguire, Lindelof, Dalot; Eriksen (Elanga 86), Casemiro, Sabitzer (Fred 68); Antony, Martial (Weghorst 54), Sancho (Rashford 46)