Substitute Wissam Ben Yedder struck twice in six minutes to seal a 2-1 victory for Sevilla and send awful Manchester United tumbling out of the Champions League at the round-of-16 stage.
French striker Ben Yedder punishingly stroked in from the edge of the area soon after coming on in the 72nd minute, before heading in at the back post from a corner with the host’s defence in tatters.
Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku lashed in a consolation to make it 2-1, but it was it was too late to stop the Europa League holders dropping out amid a cacophony of boos at Old Trafford.
The match had previously followed the flow from the goalless first leg, La Liga’s fifth-placed outfit dominating the Premier League’s second best from the off.
MOURINHO’S THE MOMENTUM KILLER
United could not have come into this match in finer fettle.
A revitalising three weeks since the first leg’s retreat in Spain had featured two come-from-behind triumphs, plus this weekend’s commanding 2-1 victory against bitter rivals Liverpool sealed by local boy Marcus Rashford’s brace.
Yet this momentum was killed even before kick-off on Tuesday night.
A collective groan emanated from Old Trafford and beyond when the United XI featured Belgium destroyer Marouane Fellaini and Rashford being switched from the left to right flank in which he wrought destruction four days prior, in deference to the struggling Alexis Sanchez.
Predictability, all the air evaporated from United’s chests.
Profligacy from Vincenzo Montella’s men saw only one shot from 10 reach the target by half time. Within just two minutes of Wissam Ben Yedder’s arrival, they had their cutting edge and United were out.
DAVE CAN’T SAVE EVERYTHING
Mourinho’s miserly game plans rely on the dark defensive arts snuffing out vibrant attacks,
Each triumph is labelled as a victory for the pragmatists.
His supporters have recently decried supposed hypocrisy about the plaudits sent Juventus’ way for their masterful job at Tottenham last week.
Yet, there is a huge difference between what the composed Old Lady pulled off at Wembley and the haggard act Mourinho continues to attempt.
It is not the collective defensive talent that gets United through. The statistics overwhelmingly show it is the unbridled brilliance of David De Gea.
Pre kick-off, he’d repelled 20 of 21 opposition shots faced in Europe this term – Opta data suggested an average goalkeeper would have let in five of these. In the Premier League, he’s faced the fourth-most shots but the team has the second-best defence.
‘Dave saves’ is the banner at Old Trafford. But even his one-man act wasn’t enough against Sevilla.
David De Gea tries desperately to keep out Wissam Ben Yedder’s second.
NO PLACE TO HIDE
There can be no ambiguity – United thoroughly and ashamedly deserved this.
The third-most-expensive squad ever assembled had no answer to a Sevilla outfit put together through years of careful bartering and astute scouting.
Over two legs, the bargain-basement Andalusians averaged 54 per cent of possession and had 25 more shots. Don’t forget, they’d never won on English soil on six previous attempts in Europe or progressed to the Champions League’s quarter-finals.
Critically, they appeared a far more coherent unit.
Mourinho still has no clue what to do with – supposedly – stellar winter recruit Sanchez. The Chile forward, at the start, was gifted his favoured left wing yet he had one off-target shot and just 68.8-per-cent pass accuracy.
The decision to start the leaden-footed centre-midfield axis of Fellaini and Nemanja Matic was unforgivably negative.
After nearly two seasons in charge, progress is too staccato. Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final with Brighton looms large.