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Manchester United crash out of Champions League

Jose Mourinho. (Image via Tsutomu Takasu, Wikimedia Commons)
13th March, 2018
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Manchester United made a shock exit from the Champions League on Wednesday after second-half goals from substitute Wissam Ben Yedder steered Sevilla into the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 1958.

Ben Yedder struck in the 74th and 78th minutes after coming off the bench two minutes earlier to stun the Red Devils 2-1 at Old Trafford, after the first leg ended goalless.

The substitution proved a masterstroke by Sevilla coach Vincenzo Montella, who brought on the French striker for Luis Muriel who had wasted several chances over the two legs.

Pablo Sarabia fed Ben Yedder, who drilled an accurate low effort into the bottom right corner to break the deadlock, before adding a second from close range with United rocking.

Romelu Lukaku fired over from close range as United looked for a way back into the game, before the Belgian striker slammed home from a corner with six minutes remaining, but it was not enough.

“We had good chances to score, but they scored one goal and from that moment everything became much more emotional,” said Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho.

“The second goal made it impossible. We had good periods, we didn’t have great control over the game, but I can’t say there was anything wrong with my players and their intention to play.”

This was Sevilla’s first win on English soil, with their Champions League bid last season coming undone against Leicester at the last 16 stage.

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“(This was) an historic night of pure magic, we played a team decorated with big-money signings and superstars and we were better,” said proud Sevilla president Jose Castro.

Meanwhile Roma beat Shakhtar 1-0 at home to progress on away goals (2-2 on aggregate), with Edin Dzeko’s second half strike making the difference.

The Bosnian forward beat the offside trap by running onto Kevin Strootman’s through ball and then prodded the ball past the onrushing Andriy Pyatov from the edge of the area.

Ivan Ordets was sent off with 10 minutes to go for Shakhtar for a foul on Dzeko who was running through, making his team’s bid for a goal to send them through harder.

“It was a great night for me, for Roma and the whole club,” Dzeko told Uefa.

“We deserved this. We were patient, we knew that one goal could see us reach the quarter-finals. We scored that goal and then we did everything all together.

“I don’t have a preferred opponent: they are all strong teams, but we will play to win against anyone. We are among the eight strongest teams in Europe, it means we are strong too.”

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Roma will be joined in Friday’s quarter-final draw by Liverpool, Juventus, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Sevilla and the winners between Barcelona-Manchester City (1-1 on aggregate) and Bayern Munich-Besiktas (5-0) who meet on Thursday.

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