Manchester United 1-2 Sevilla (Aggregate 1-2): 5 Talking Points
After a goalless first-leg draw at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium 3 weeks ago, Manchester United hosted Sevilla in what many anticipated to be an exciting affair.
As per the away goal rule, for every goal Sevilla scored on the night, Manchester United would have had to score an equalizer and then another to stay ahead. Naturally, Jose Mourinho and his side were expected to go all guns blazing.
Despite a positive start, however, in what turned out to be a rather effective turn-of-the-tables, Vincenzo Montella, Sevilla's manager, pulled off an admirable smash-and-grab as his side stunned the Red Devils by unceremoniously knocking them out of the UEFA Champions League.
Super-sub Wissam Ben Yedder turned out to be the iceberg to Manchester United's European campaign - let's call it the Titanic for the sake of poetic justice - as he came off the bench in the 72nd minute, to score two goals within six minutes and ultimately sink the English giants.
Romelu Lukaku picked up a goal in the 84th minute, and with just minutes left before the final whistle, consolatory is all it proved to be.
Without further ado, here's a look at 5 key talking points from the clash at Old Trafford:
#5 Poor defending and finishing cost Manchester United
Quite simply put, Manchester United were outplayed. In all departments.
Owing to the fact that they failed to nick a goal in the first leg, the Red Devils just couldn't afford to concede a goal last night, but they did. Not one, but two goals in quick succession. Towards the end of the game - precisely what you'd have wanted to avoid if you went by the name of Jose Mourinho.
After a disappointing first half riddled with poor final ball production, Ben Yedder took to the field against a tiring United defence, and he sure didn't sit around hatching eggs.
A couple of minutes later, the Frenchman had broken through a clueless defence before unleashing a ground-hugging thunderbastard that nestled into the net quicker than Manchester United's resident superhero, David De Gea could react.
The subsequent desperation to score two goals only saw the defence slip from bad to worse, as Ben Yedder was then served a free header on a platter - one that he ate right up, as he piled on the misery for United before the final whistle eventually ended it.
Unfortunately for United, the grass was no greener on the other side, as their famed attack mustered an impressive total of 17 shots, of which only an unimpressive total of 4 were on target.
Romelu Lukaku's goal deserved to be a lot more than consolatory, and the big Belgian will rue the fact that it went down in a losing cause such as this.
This loss to Sevilla should serve Mourinho and United as a jarring eye-opener to the amount of work that needs to be done at Old Trafford if its inhabitants are to be considered contenders on the European level.