Author: Amrit Santlani
Manchester United drew 2-2 at Old Trafford in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League quarter-final against Sevilla, while Bayer Leverkusen produced an underwhelming display to draw 1-1 against Union Saint-Gilloise.
Manchester United – Sevilla – 2:2
Manchester United started the game on the front foot, with Jadon Sancho putting the ball in the back of the net 30 seconds after the opening whistle. Brazilian full-back Antony cut through the Sevilla defense with a precise pass, but Sancho was in an offside position when the ball was played. United’s second chance of the night came thanks to Antony’s quick feet, when the winger tested Yassine Bounou from the edge of the box, but the Moroccan was equal to it.
A few minutes later, the Premier League giants took the lead after a good move from Anthony Martial. Bruno Fernandes played a pass to Marcel Sabitzer, who finished calmly, although Bono was beaten by a slight deflection off the feet of Brazilian defender Marcão. The La Liga side were 2-0 down soon after when Casemiro’s relief reached Martial, who fed Sabitzer again with a brilliant pass to double the home side’s lead.
Before the half-hour mark, Manchester United could have wrapped up the game, with Sabitzer missing a golden chance. An eventful first half ended with Manchester barely managing to hold on to their two-goal lead. Antony continued to cause Sevilla all sorts of problems by hitting the post in the second half, but they would live to see their own downfall as two own goals undid all the good work of the first half.
Bayer – Saint-Gilloise – 1:1
In the other game of the night, Bayer Leverkusen had the first chance to score, Amine Adli served Florian Wirtz and the German prodigy dribbled past a couple of defenders, but his shot was narrowly off target.
Then it was Saint-Gilloise’s turn to attack, Victor Boniface playing for Yorbe Vertessen after a surging run. The Leverkusen goalkeeper stood firm and deflected another Boniface shot away from his goal, keeping the score at 0-0. The visiting fans were left with their hearts in their mouths soon after, when Anthony Moris came for the ball and got nowhere near it, but Piero Hincapie managed to hit the side netting with the goal gaping.
Soon after the restart, the Saint-Gilloise fans celebrated when Boniface scored his seventh Europa League goal to open the scoring. The hosts had a glorious chance to equalize after a quick counter-attack by Wirtz, fed by Mitchel Bakker, but Bakker missed with only Moris to beat as he had drifted out of play.
With just 10 minutes to go, Wirtz came to his team’s rescue with a fine shot from outside the box after a good game for the Bundesliga side. It was the only shot on target all evening and the Germans would have been disappointed to have drawn at home.
Europa League 1/4
Juventus – Sporting – 1:0
Feyenoord – Roma – 1:0
Manchester United – Sevilla – 2:2
Bayer – Saint-Gilloise – 1:1