Erik ten Hag is disappointed by the damage suffered by Manchester United in the first leg with Sevilla in the quarterfinals of the Europa League. Not only when it comes to goals against, but certainly also when it comes to injuries.
Ten Hag is worried about Martínez’s injury
Raphaël Varane was replaced halfway by Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martínez was carried off the field at Old Trafford by fellow internationals Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuña when he was unable to continue and Ten Hag had already been exchanged. The manager is afraid to miss the two for a while. The complaints at Martínez were particularly worrying. The ex-Ajax player suffered an injury without an opponent at fault. According to the English media, a muscle tear is feared.
“There was no opponent involved. It doesn’t look good, but we have to wait and see,” Ten Hag said shortly afterwards at BT Sport. “I haven’t spoken to Raphaël yet, but it was an injury that has already bothered him in recent weeks,” the Dutchman continued. He already had to miss Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford against Sevilla due to injuries. Anthony Martial started, but due to a lack of match rhythm, he only lasted just over an hour.
“The rhythm went out of the game due to substitutions”
According to Ten Hag, the rhythm went out of the game due to his substitutions, a few of which were forced. United was close to more goals at 2-0, but saw things go wrong in the final phase against the odds. An own goal from Tyrell Malacia made it 2-1, after which Youssef En-Nesyri made it 2-2 via Harry Maguire. That goal was also credited to Varane’s replacement.
“We lost control due to an unfortunate moment and with ten men we conceded a second own goal after Martínez dropped out. It’s just bad luck and we have to deal with that. In the final phase we should have been calmer, then we could have taken advantage of a few counter opportunities. Defensively, we were unlucky with the shots changing direction,” analyzed Ten Hag, who was very disappointed by the draw. “We had the game in our hands. And we were 2-0 up and should have scored a third and fourth goal. We really were the superior party, until the unfortunate moments when we had to switch.”
