David De Gea wonder stop helps United earn draw at Sevilla
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 21/02/2018 at 22:09 GMT
Champions League Last 16, first leg, Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium - Sevilla 0 Manchester United 0
Sevilla vs Manchester United - Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Seville, Spain - February 21, 2018 Manchester United's David De Gea makes a save
Image credit: Reuters
David De Gea produced a wonder save as Manchester United earned a hard-fought 0-0 draw in the first-leg of their Champions League last 16 clash in Sevilla.
The Spaniard once again showed why he is regarded by many as the best in the world as he pulled off a quite remarkable point-blank stop to deny Luis Muriel on the stroke of half time.
It proved to be the most significant moment of a cagey encounter where the hosts huffed and puffed, but failed to do any real damage despite carving out some good openings in the final third.
The pre-match focus had been on Jose Mourinho's decision to omit Paul Pogba from his starting XI, but the France international was soon thrust into the action and produced a solid performance after replacing the injured Ander Herrera on 17 minutes.
The Red Devils offered little threat of their own, but will be confident they can win the tie when the sides meet again at Old Trafford in the second leg on March 13.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2018/02/21/2277789-47454570-2560-1440.jpg)
Sevilla's French midfielder Steven N'Zonzi (L) fights for the ball with Manchester United's Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku (R) during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg football match Sevilla FC against Manchester United.
Image credit: Eurosport
TALKING POINT Four of the five English sides look in good shape
Liverpool and Manchester City are all-but assured of a place in the last eight, while Tottenham's two goals at Juventus and the manner of their performance in Turin means they will fancy their chances against the Old Lady at Wembley.
Okay, Chelsea have it all to do in Barcelona - which just left United. Mourinho's men were on the back-foot on many occasions in Sevilla, but thanks to some solid organisation and the goalkeeping brilliance of De Gea, they look in a very strong position heading back to Manchester.
MAN OF THE MATCH Scott McTominay (Man United)
The headlines will go to De Gea and Pogba, but the man tasked with filling the big shoes of the Frenchman showed just why his manager put such faith in him. The 21-year-old was assured on the ball and disciplined in his defending throughout what was probably the biggest night of his United career to-date.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2018/02/21/2277818-47455150-2560-1440.jpg)
Sevilla vs Manchester United - Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Seville, Spain - February 21, 2018 Manchester United's David De Gea makes a save from Sevilla’s Luis Muriel
Image credit: Reuters
PLAYER RATINGS
- SEVILLA: Sergio Rico 6, Navas 7, Mercado 7, Lenglet 6, Banega 7, Escudero 7, Correa 7, Nzonzi 7, Sarabia 7, Muriel 7, Vazquez 7. Subs: Sandro n/a, Pizarro n/a.
- MAN UTD: De Gea 8, Valencia 6, Lindelof 7, Smalling 7, Young 7, Matic 7, Herrera 5, McTominay 8, Mata 6, Lukaku 6, Sanchez 6. Subs: Pogba 6, Rashford 6, Martial n/a.
KEY MOMENTS
- 17' - POGBA OFF THE BENCH. After all of the pre-match discussion over Pogba's omission from the starting XI, the Frenchman makes an early appearance in place of the injured Ander Herrera. Chance to make a point to his manager?
- 25' - MAN UTD CHANCE! Lukaku peels off his marker to the left of the area. Sanchez finds him with a peach of a floated pass but the Belgian volleys over the top. He should have scored.
- 45' - SEVILLA CHANCES! N'Zonzi sees his header tipped over the top by De Gea after Mercado had rescued a deep corner with an acrobatic cross into the danger zone. The United keeper is the forced to produce an even better stop, somehow getting his hand to Muriel's close-range header just seconds later.
- 73' - SEVILLA CHANCE! Sarabia heads a great chance over after Muriel had jinked his way to the right byline and dinked a wonderful cross to the far post.
- 87' - SEVILLA CHANCE! The hosts cause a bit of panic in the United defence. It's cut back from the right for Sandro who sees his effort diverted away by Smalling.
KEY STATS
- Five of Manchester United’s last seven Champions League away matches in Spain have ended goalless.
- This was Manchester United’s ninth clean sheet in their last 11 matches in all competitions and their 23rd in all competitions this season – three more than any other Premier League side.
- Manchester United have drawn 22 matches in the Champions League goalless, a record they share with AC Milan.
- Sevilla failed to score in a home Champions League game for the very first time – this was their 19th home match in the competition.
- Only Aleksandar Kolarov (nine times v FK Qarabag in September) has been fouled more in a Champions League game this season than Alexis Sanchez in this match (6).
- Scott McTominay became the fourth youngest Englishman to start a Champions League knockout match for the Red Devils – only Wayne Rooney, Phil Neville and Phil Jones were younger.
- This was Sevilla’s first goalless draw in a home European game since September 2005 against FSV Mainz 05 in a UEFA Cup match.
- Man Utd faced 25 shots in this match – only against Arsenal in December (33) have they faced more in a match this season.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article