Partly due to error, United van Ten Hag gives away Malacia’s lead against Sevilla | Football

Apr 13, 2023 at 11:03 PMUpdate: 4 minutes ago

Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United handed over a 2-0 lead on Thursday evening in the first meeting with Sevilla in the Europa League quarterfinals. Partly due to an error of judgment by Tyrell Malacia, the Spanish club is still in the race: 2-2.

In his fiftieth official game as Manchester United manager, Ten Hag saw his team immediately take the initiative and create opportunities. The 1-0 fell after just fifteen minutes. Bruno Fernandes found Marcel Sabitzer with a nice pass, who finished convincingly.

Sabitzer was also responsible for the second goal after 21 minutes, this time after a magisterial pass from Anthony Martial, who had already initiated the counter with a running action. With this reassuring margin in his pocket, Manchester United switched back a few teeth against poor Sevilla, who had eliminated PSV in the intermediate round.

The game took a surprising turn after 84 minutes, when Tyrell Malacia, who started in the starting line-up, thought to let a cross go over the line. But he overlooked Jesús Navas, who scored through Malacia and David de Gea.

To make matters worse, Ten Hag saw defender Lisandro Martínez fall out with what looked like a serious injury. The Dutchman had already run out of substitution options (Wout Weghorst, among others, had already come in). To his horror, he saw that it was still 2-2 when Harry Maguire deflected a shot.

Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny leaves the field emotionally just before half-time. Photo: Getty Images

Scare around Juventus goalkeeper Szczesny

At Juventus-Sporting CP, attention focused on goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. He indicated just before the break that he wanted to be replaced, while he felt his chest. Juventus did not report on Thursday evening exactly what was going on, but that a first test showed that Szczesny is okay.

Sporting CP, responsible for the elimination of Arsenal in the previous round, regularly handed out pinpricks to the home team, especially before halftime.

Juventus dominated in the second half. Via Dusan Vlahovic it became 1-0, a deficit that the Portuguese team did not make up for. As a result, the Netherlands is certainly in sixth place on the coefficient list.

Union Saint-Gilloise and Leverkusen in balance

The Bayer Leverkusen of basic players Mitchel Bakker and Jeremie Frimpong drew 1-1 against Union Saint-Gilloise, where Bart Nieuwkoop kicked off. After more than half an hour, the former Feyeno player created one of the few dangerous moments in the first half with a header from a corner.

Six minutes after the break, the visitors surprisingly took the lead through Victor Boniface. The attacker found the far corner with a nice shot. Thanks to a goal from top talent Florian Wirtz after 83 minutes, Bayer Leverkusen managed to pull a draw out of the fire.

Earlier in the evening, Feyenoord won 1-0 against AS Roma in De Kuip thanks to a goal by Mats Wieffer. If the team from Rotterdam survive the quarter-finals, they will meet Bayer Leverkusen or Union Saint-Gilloise in the semi-finals.

The returns in the quarterfinals are next Thursday. The semi-finals will be played on May 11 and 18 and the final will be in Budapest on May 31.

Until tonight, John van den Brom was having an excellent European season with Lech Poznan. Photo: Getty Images

Van den Brom down hard in Conference League

In the quarter-finals of the Conference League, Lech Poznan, trained by John van den Brom, lost 1-4 against Fiorentina.

OGC Nice fell 1-0 behind against FC Basel, but the Ligue 1 club repaired the damage before the break thanks to two goals from Terem Moffi (including a nice bicycle kick). The Swiss equalized twenty minutes before the end: 2-2.

KAA Gent-West Ham United ended in 1-1. Danny Ings gave the visitors the lead just before half-time, after which Hugo Cuypers restored the balance after 57 minutes. The winner of this confrontation will face AZ or Anderlecht in the semi-final. The Belgian club won 2-0 against the Alkmaarders on Thursday.

The returns are next week and, just like in the Europa League, the semi-finals are on May 11 and 18. The final is in Prague on June 7.

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