United hands out victory in closing stages, Van den Brom down hard with Lech Poznan
NOS Football–
Coach Erik ten Hag is far from certain of a spot in the semifinals of the Europa League with Manchester United. An entertaining home game against Sevilla ended in a 2-2 draw due to two late goals.
In the Conference League, coach John van den Brom experienced a particularly unpleasant evening: his Lech Poznan lost the first game in the quarter-finals to Fiorentina no less than 4-1 in their own stadium.
United start strong
The game between Manchester United and Sevilla at Old Trafford stadium ignited in the very first minute. After a clever ball from Antony, Jadon Sancho put the home team in the lead, but that goal was ruled out due to offside.
United kept Sevilla under pressure and actually made it 1-0 15 minutes later. A cutting pass from Bruno Fernandes reached Marcel Sabitzer, who controlled the ball on the edge of the penalty area and shot via a Spanish defender.
All results in the quarterfinals of the Europa and Conference League listed. The returns are next Thursday.
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The results in the quarter-finals of the Europa League -
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The results in the Conference League quarterfinals
Inspired by that good start, Ten Hag’s team, with Tyrell Malacia as a base player, went looking for more. Six minutes after his first goal, it was another hit for Sabitzer, who this time benefited from an ingenious cross from Antony Martial: 2-0.
That there were no more goals in the remainder of the first half was remarkable, as Fernandes (he bumped into goalkeeper Yassine Bounou from close range) and Sevilla defender Tanguy Nianzou (whose header was parried by David de Gea), among others, had great chances.
Up and down
After the break, the game also undulated up and down. Sevilla slowly took a little more risk, which increased the chances of an English counter. After an hour, such a counterpunch led to a shot on the post by Antony, which did not cause danger for the first time.
Instead of an even more favorable starting position, however, a double setback followed in the closing stages for United. First, Malacia misjudged a Spanish cross, allowing Jesús Navas to sign for the tying goal via the Dutchman, and moments later, Youssef En-Nesyri headed in through Harry Maguire.
While Feyenoord celebrated a cautious party after the 1-0 win over AS Roma, some eyes in Rotterdam were probably already focused on the match between Bayer Leverkusen and Union Sint-Gillis. After all, if Feyenoord reaches the semifinals of the Europa League, one of those two clubs will be the opponent.
The duel in Germany, featuring Jeremie Frimpong and Mitchel Bakker on behalf of the home side and Bart Nieuwkoop as a base player for the visitors, ended 1-1. After the Belgians had taken the lead shortly after halftime, top German talent Florian Wirtz provided the equalizer ten minutes before time.
Gatti helps Juventus and the Netherlands
Just before halftime, Turin was in for a good scare when an emotional Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny had to be substituted because he was thought to have become unwell. Moments later, his club announced that some checks showed he was fine.
No historic result Van den Brom
For Lech Poznan, the meeting with Fiorentina was a historic duel anyway. For the first time since the 1995/1996 season, a Polish team is in the last eight of a European tournament.
Van den Brom’s success team, however, failed to achieve a historic result. Lech Poznan did overcome an early deficit, but then had to stand by as Fiorentina ran out to 4-1.
Possible AZ opponents play equal
If AZ still manages to get rid of Anderlecht, a meeting with the winner of the AA Gent-West Ham United duel awaits in the Conference League semifinals. Those clubs balanced each other in the outward game in Belgium: 1-1.
The duel between FC Basel and OGC Nice, where Wouter Burger (on behalf of the home team) and Pablo Rosario (for the visitors) faced each other, also ended undecided. Thanks to two goals by Terem Moffi, Nice went to rest with a lead, but in the second half Zeki Amdouni equalized again: 2-2.
