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Manchester United crashed out of the Europa League after being beaten by three goals to nil by Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.
A brace from Youssef En-Nesyri and a set-piece goal from Loic Bade were enough to send the Spanish team through to the semi-finals of the Europa League where they will face Juventus.
United were architects of their own failure and all the goals could have been prevented.
For Sevilla’s opener, a combination of a poor David de Gea pass to an under-pressure Harry Maguire who is unaware of his surroundings sees the United skipper dispossed off the ball before Youssef En-Nesyri taps it in.
Bade’s goal came from United’s poor organization and defending during a set-piece. Casemiro loses a determined Bade who rises highest to head the ball into the back of the net. De Gea, as he did with En-Nesyri’s first goal, only stood there and watched.
For the third, De Gea comes rushing out of his goal but makes a huge mess of his effort to clear the ball. The shot-stopper instead puts the ball in En-Nesyri’s path. The Moroccan striker comes up with a clever chip to firmly crush any hopes United harboured of a comeback.
Again, Maguire was central to United’s defensive frailities.
During the 90 minutes he was on the pitch, Maguire made four clearances. He blocked one shot and made as many tackles.
The 30-year-old as pointed out, made one error leading to goal. He delved into two ground duels and won all of them.
Aerially, Maguire won six of his 10 challenges. The England international ceded possesion to Sevilla nine times.
Maguire had a pass accuracy of 85% to his name and registered 72 touches of the ball. Out of the nine long ball she tried to ping to his teammates, the centre-back successfully delivered five of them.
(Stats obtained from Sofascore)
What is concerning is that Maguire is still constantly making mistakes. He was not helped by De Gea’s lousy pass but even then, he should have made more of an effort to be aware of who is around him.
The clock is certainly ticking on Maguire’s time at Old Trafford. It appears there is no saving grace for the United captain and as it stands, the Red Devils will be better serviced by cutting their losses and facilitating a parting of ways with the player.
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