MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Led by late own goals from Tyrell Malacia and Harry Maguire, Sevilla salvaged a 2-2 draw at Manchester United in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on Thursday.
United were beating their way to the semi-finals after Marcel Sabitzer’s double in the first half.
But Sevilla, six times champion of the tournament, came back after own goals at 84 and 92 minutes that silenced Old Trafford.
To further embitter the night for coach Erik ten Hag, two United central defenders were injured: the Argentine Lisandro Martínez and the Frenchman Raphael Varane. Martínez received the help of Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuña, rivals of Sevilla and his teammates from the team that won the World Cup last year.
“It doesn’t look good,” Ten Hag said of Martinez’s injury.
Ten Hag already accused the absence due to injury of Marcus Rashford, his top scorer. And midfielder Bruno Fernandes will purge a suspension date in the second leg after receiving his third yellow card of the tournament.
“We had the game in our hands, winning 2-0 we could have scored three or four, and then we had some bad luck with injuries,” Ten Hag said. “I know that we must do things a little better in the definition, have more peace of mind. We had some bad luck defensively. It was not a pleasant night.”
The teams will meet in the return match in Spain next week.
Faced with Rashford’s loss due to injury, Sabitzer responded with the goals that United put forward.
The Austrian midfielder, on loan from Bayern Munich, was the least expected to cover Rashford’s loss. But he rose to the occasion in a game United dominated.
Sabitzer opened the scoring at 14 minutes and added a second at 21.
Brazilian attacker Anthony smashed a shot off the crossbar in the second half as dangerous situations multiplied by the hosts.
But the Andalusian team made United pay dearly for not having settled the match when Malacia deflected Jesús Navas’ cross into his own goal.
David de Gea repelled a shot from Youssef En-Nesyri in injury time. But Sevilla celebrated at the end when Maguire mistakenly sent En-Nesyri’s header into the net.
“Sevilla as a club in this competition is always at the top, everyone respects it,” said José Luis Mendilibar, the Sevilla coach. “A great Manchester, but also a great Seville”.
FEYENOORD SURPRISES ROME
A second-half volley from Matts Wieffer helped Feyenoord beat Roma 1-0 in another quarterfinal on Thursday.
Ouassama Idrissi set up an assist on 54 minutes, escaping down the left flank before lavishing a precise cross on Wieffer. The locals thus achieved a victory that tasted like a sweet revenge.
The match was a repeat of last year’s final in the inaugural edition of the Europa Conference League. Roma prevailed in that match 1-0, so that coach José Mourinho bagged his fifth European title.
The Argentine Paulo Dybala and Tammy Abraham, strikers for Roma, left the match due to injuries.
With a goal from defender Federico Gatti in the 73rd minute, Juventus defeated Sporting Lisbon 1-0 at home. Gatti scored on a counterattack just as the Portuguese threatened to upset another favorite after knocking out Premier League leaders Arsenal in the previous round.
In the other quarterfinal duel of the day, Florian Wirtz’s goal seven minutes from time rescued Bayer Leverkusen’s 1-1 draw against Belgian Union Saint-Gilloise. Victor Boniface had put the Belgians ahead at the start of the second half.
EUROPE CONFERENCE
Argentine striker Nicolás González towered over an opponent to put in a header for the second goal in Fiorentina’s 4-1 win at Lech Poznan in Poland.
González was substituted as a precaution after suffering physical discomfort early in the second half. The Italian team has not lost in any competition since February 12.
West Ham’s perfect run ended with a 1-1 draw in Ghent. The London team accumulated 10 wins in the tournament, including the qualifying phase.
Hugo Cuypers, Ghent’s top scorer, salvaged the equalizer for the Belgian hosts. He reached five goals in the competition this season, 12 minutes into the second half.
Danny Ings blasted Jarrod Bowen’s cross into the net, following a hastily executed throw-in by Vladimir Coufal, to give the visitors the lead in first-half injury time.
West Ham or Ghent will face Anderlecht or AZ Alkmaar in the semi-finals. Anderlecht prevailed 2-1 in the first round in Brussels.
Basel drew 2-2 at home against Nice in the other game.
