A stubborn defensive performance, combined with several excellent saves from David De Gea ensured that Manchester United claimed a goalless draw against an impressive Sevilla side in their Champions League last-16 clash on Wednesday night.
The game was the first competitive meeting between the two sides and the stats weren’t exactly on United’s side pre-match, with the ‘Red Devils’ having only won one of their last six Champions League knockout games prior to this one (W1, D2, L3).
That didn’t show any sign of changing early on as the hosts dominated proceedings, with Luis Muriel forcing visiting goalkeeper David De Gea into an early save with a fierce low strike from fully 30 yards.
The hosts made much of the early running but Ever Banega and Jesus Navas were both unable to find the target with efforts from range.
United suffered a blow with just 17 minutes gone as Ander Herrera limped off with an injury, allowing Paul Pogba - the subject of most of the pre-match discussion - a chance to shine.
The two sides traded chances as the half wore on, first Romelu Lukaku volleyed over first time after being picked out beautifully by Alexis Sanchez, before Joaquin Correa saw a low effort saved by De Gea after cutting in from the left.
- De Gea heroics -
Both sides struggled to build up a head of steam owing to the large number of niggly fouls committed but United were indebted to their goalkeeper in the dying embers of the first half as David De Gea did what David De Gea does to keep the scores level.
The Spaniard had to be alert to dive low to his left to keep out another effort from Correa as he looked to shape a low strike into the far corner.
The best was yet to come though as the United ‘stopper twice kept out headers in what was a frantic finish to the half.
First, he did well to back-peddle and tip Steven N’Zonzi’s flicked header over the bar after Mercado spectacularly kept a corner alive with an overhead kick before he somehow kept out Muriel’s header from six yards with a magnificent reaction save.
In the end, the two sides were forced to settle for a draw, something which puts Sevilla in a strong position ahead of the second leg, with a score draw at Old Trafford now enough for them to advance to the quarter-finals.