“It’s easy” – Christian Eriksen sends message to De Gea and Harry Maguire after calamitous display in Manchester United defeat to Sevilla
Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen believes the Red Devils can bounce back following their exit from the UEFA Europa League against Sevilla. He stated that everyone makes mistakes but David de Gea and Harry Maguire can move past them.
United suffered a 3-0 defeat against Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-finals on April 20. In the process, they exited the competition, losing 5-2 on aggregate.
De Gea and Maguire had a horror showing against Sevilla on Thursday, starting with the La Liga side's first goal. The Spanish goalkeeper passed the ball to Maguire, who was instantly surrounded by three Sevilla players and lost the ball. Youssef En-Nesyri latched on to it and scored in the eighth minute.
Loic Balde scored the second for Sevilla from a corner in the 47th minute. De Gea then had a shocker as he ran out of his box to clear a long ball but miskicked it instead. En-Nesyri benefitted from the Spaniard's error, scoring Sevilla's third in the 81st minute.
Speaking after the game, Manchester United midfielder Eriksen spoke about the errors made by the Red Devils on the night. On how tough it will be to bounce back from them, the Dane said (via Manchester Evening News):
"It's easy, every football player makes mistakes in a game. Mistakes like this, they punish us straight away at this level, so of course, we had to take that away, but in the end, it's how you bounce back from the mistakes."
He added:
"I don't think we were strong enough to bounce back from the mistakes we gave them. I think it will be easy [to bounce back], everyone who is a footballer has bad days, so the next day they will change that."
De Gea is expected to feature in Manchester United's FA Cup semi-final clash against Brighton & Hove Albion on April 23. Maguire, meanwhile, is suspended for the game.
Manchester United's remaining fixtures this season
Manchester United have already won the Carabao Cup this season but their attempt to win the Europa League has now ended. They are still in the FA Cup and will take on Brighton in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium.
The Red Devils are third in the Premier League table, three points above fourth-placed Newcastle United. After their FA Cup clash against Brighton, they will face Tottenham Hotspur away in the league on April 27.
Erik ten Hag's side will then host Aston Villa and travel to face Brighton in the league. Their last four league fixtures will be against West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Bournemouth, and Fulham.
Given their league position and the fixture list, Manchester United look likely to make it to the Premier League top four. However, they will need to avoid performances like the one they put up against Sevilla.