Damning angle proves Harry Maguire was at fault for Sevilla’s opening goal against Man United

Harry Maguire and David de Gea had a moment to forget during Manchester United’s Europa League clash against Sevilla.

On Thursday night, United arrived at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan looking to seal a place in the semi-final of the competition.

However, Erik ten Hag’s men started the match in the worst way possible as they fell behind early doors after a catastrophic mishap between Maguire and De Gea.

With just seven minutes on the clock, the United goalkeeper played a risky pass to Maguire, who was on the edge of the penalty area.

Sevilla man Erik Lamela was quickly onto the scene and forced a mistake from Maguire.

The ball then fell perfectly into the path of striker Youssef En Nesyri, who cooly slotted the ball hard and low into the back of De Gea’s net.

At first, many fans blamed De Gea for playing the ball to Maguire in that position.

Nightmare start for Man Utd! 😳

It's a mix-up at the back that gifts Sevilla the lead...#UEL pic.twitter.com/PwGAQAjcys

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 20, 2023

However, the replays showed that Maguire did in fact ask his goalkeeper to pass him the ball.

Fans were quick to react on social media.

One said: “For everyone that's blaming De Gea, Maguire asked for the ball.”

Another tweeted: “Don’t Blame De Gea. Harry Maguire asked for the ball under No Pressure.”

A third fan added: “Maguire asked for the ball, and when it was given, he didn't know what to do with it.”

Someone else wrote: “Maguire asked for the ball to pass it straight to them HE IS NOT SERIOUS.”

Whilst a fifth commented: “Wasn't De Gea's fault at all. Maguire asked for the ball, De Gea gave him a good ball.”

Harry Maguire asked for the ball before giving it away for Sevilla's opener 🙃 pic.twitter.com/CSbeCPZpJF

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) April 20, 2023

After the half-time interval, Ten Hag made a double change as he brought on Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw in order to get his team back into the match.

However, just two minutes into the second half, United’s task got a whole lot harder.

A corner swung in by Ivan Rakitic was flicked into the back of the net by Loic Bade.

Replays seemed to show that De Gea could have probably done a little more to prevent that from going into the back of the net.

United now have a huge mountain if they are to advance to the last four of the Europa League.