MANCHESTER UNITED icon Peter Schmeichel has criticised Harry Maguire for not preventing Sevilla’s players from carrying Lisandro Martinez off the pitch following his injury.
The Red Devils were reduced to ten men late on during their Europa League quarter-final first leg on Thursday evening.
It came when Martinez was reduced to tears and taken off with an ankle problem after Erik ten Hag had already made his five substitutions.
United soldiered on with a man disadvantage, before Maguire’s own goal handed Sevilla a stoppage-time equaliser.
And Schmeichel zeroed in on Martinez’s injury after the game, offering his own unique view around how it unfolded.
Rather than believing Marcos Acuna and Gonzalo Montiel carried Martinez off because they are his Argentina team-mates, Schmeichel insisted they did so to try and get the game restarted as quickly as possible.
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And he feels United captain Maguire should have done something to prevent them.
He said: “It looks like [the] Sevilla players are nice carrying him off the pitch. No, they wanted him out so they could get going.
“[The] United players should have stopped that, that’s a lack of leadership on the pitch.
“Harry Maguire should have managed that situation.”
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Schmeichel also criticised United’s overall performance as they relinquished a two-goal lead at Old Trafford.
They will now need to beat Sevilla in Spain to reach the semi-finals of the Europa League.
“It’s a fair enough result, the way that it developed in the second half,” Schmeichel told BBC Radio 5 Live. “The players of Manchester United have missed a very good opportunity here.
“A few players today need to have a look at themselves and think about whether they are contributing to the team enough.
“There are a few players who should be embarrassed with their performances.
“De Gea played well, he made two fantastic saves, could not do anything about the goals. He kept Man Utd in the lead to no avail.
“Casemiro came back and played really well as well.
“The best player is the guy who scored two goals – Marcel Sabitzer was really good.
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“His team-mates have let him down… he showed the way and they didn’t catch on to it.
“It’s 2-2 and as a Man Utd supporter, I’m really disappointed. This could and should have been a 5-0 win.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
