Match reports

1-2: THEY SAID IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE - SEVILLA FC ARE IN THE QUARTER-FINALS OF THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

13/03/2018
A night that will be etched permanently into the history of Sevilla Football Club at Old Trafford. With a heroic performance, Sevilla FC managed two second-half goals through Wissam Ben Yedder and despite a consolation from Lukaku, it is the NERVIONENSES who prorgess to the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in 60 years

Sevilla FC made history this Tuesday in Manchester after a 1-2 win in the Theatre of Dreams. In a game that saw Sevilla show the heart, courage, intensity and desire that cannot be matched by any team - no matter how successful -  a brace from Wissam Ben Yedder late into the second-half put enough distance between the two sides to secure qualification. Against all odds, Sevilla managed their first official win on English soil and won a ground in which so many have fallen. Whatever happens in the quarter-finals, Sevilla Football Club has new heroes to write into the history books and a night to look back on that will never be forgotten.

United came out as you would expect any José Mourinho side to come out: intense, organised and focused. Sevilla showed concentration in the first minutes to calm an opening storm - including a sublime block from Clement Lenglet that denied Romelu Lukaku an effort on goal. The visitors found their groove and started to create chances of their own. Slowly but surely, Sevilla started to show superiority and threatened through Correa, Muriel and Vázquez. Nzonzi and Banega were bossing the centre of the park despite an early yellow card for the Argentinian and Kjaer and Lenglet proved to be solid as rocks at the centre of defence. Though De Gea was equal to everything in the early going, Sevilla were looking the most likely. 

United came out with intensity but slowly and surely, Sevilla showed superiority

With Vázquez and Muriel looking to link up wherever they could, Sevilla's travelling fans showed optimism and spirit. Though Sevilla FC were on top, United were as dangerous as ever on the break. The Nervionenses would have to call on Sergio Rico to keep the scores level. After Fellaini found some space and released a fierce effort, the academy Sevillista was there with strong hands to deny the Belgian. As the first-half ticked by, it looked increasingly like no deadlock would be broken in the tie. Chances dried up and both sides remained solid. The stalemate would continue into the second-half. 

With David De Gea between the sticks, finding the goal that Sevilla needed was always going to be difficult come the restart, and with Rashford and Lingard pacey up-front on the counter, Sevilla's situation was delicately balanced. It would be Lingard who would find the biggest chance of the second-half less than ten minutes in. Finding space on the right, he would drag the ball back across goal. Sergio Rico would be there with a heroic fingertip stop to keep the deadlock unbroken. Correa would respond by causing havoc in the United box with a mazey run but would not find the contact to hit the target. 

Looking to the bench, Montella would find inspiration in Wissam Ben Yedder

The game was on a knife-edge and, gambling, Montella looked to the bench to find the difference. In what would be the decisive change of the game, the Italian would bring on Wissam Ben Yedder for a tired Luis Muriel with 20 minutes to go. In less than five minutes on the pitch, the Frenchman would send Sevillistas all over the world into raptures. A inside ball from Sarabia would find the striker, who, finding a yard of space from Bailly, would unleash a perfect right-footed strike that found the corner of David De Gea's net. Four minutes later he would be at it again. Finding space from a disorganised United defence, the smallest player on the pitch would convert with his head. A scrambling De Gea would not be able to keep the ball out. Delirium. 

Sevilla were just over ten minutes away from glory but United would do everything they could to make uncomfortable. Six minutes from regulation time, Lukaku would find a goal from a Manchester United corner and Sevilla would have to hang on. Looking to the bench, Montella would bring on Pizarro and Geis to give defensive security, run down the clock and ensure Lukaku's goal would just be a consolation. And a consolation it would be. After 94 minutes of football, Sevilla FC had achieved one of its greatest wins in the club's history. 1-2 on the night and in the tie. Quarter-finals here we come.