Manchester United were stunned by two late own goals as Sevilla salvaged a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday.
Marcel Sabitzer scored twice in the space of seven minutes in the first half through Bruno Fernandes and Anthony Martial to put United in control ahead of next week’s second leg in Spain.
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But a freak own goal from Tyrell Malaysia in the 84th minute put Sevilla back in the running, with United left-back David De Gea turning Jesus Navas’ cross into his own net.
Things went from bad to worse for the home side when Lisandro Martinez was carried off with an injury.
In the second minute of stoppage time, Youssef N-Neziri’s header sailed wide to give Sevilla the win.
There was more worrying news for Eric den Haag’s side, with Fernandez picking up a yellow card which means he will be suspended for the second leg and Martinez’s fellow centre-back Rafael Varane also went off at half-time with a knock.
“I think we had the game in hand,” Den Haag told BT Sport. “We should have scored three or four . . . and then some unlucky moments with injuries. Then we conceded two own goals, which was unlucky. We have to deal with that. Of course, we have to learn that we have to kill. The game.”
Sabitzer, on loan from Bayern Munich, scored his first European goal for United in the 14th minute when he controlled a precise pass from Fernandez and shot past keeper Bono.
The Austrian doubled his tally seven minutes later, latching on to Martial’s excellent pass and finishing well.
Sabitzer, however, said it was difficult to find words after his team’s late meltdown.
“A roller-coaster,” Sabitzer said. “We had to finish the game, it was a draw, not what we wanted, we had to go to Seville and bring it there.
“We had chances, we were confident in the game, I think we controlled the game, but unfortunately we conceded easy goals.”
Martinez suffered a serious injury and was carried off the pitch by two of his Argentina team-mates, two Sevilla players.
United, bidding for a second trophy of the season after winning the League Cup, thought they had scored seconds after kickoff but Jaden Sancho’s effort was disallowed for offside.
Sevilla, languishing in the bottom half of La Liga, were outplayed in the first half, but they got on the scoreboard seconds before the break when De Gea stopped Tanguy Nyanzo’s close-range header.
Information from Reuters has been used in this report.
