Ten Hag said he must ‘take blame’ for Sevilla draw as Man Utd fans slam ‘dumb’ tactics

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MANCHESTER UNITED fans have slammed Erik ten Hag for his substitutions in their 2-2 draw against Sevilla.

The Red Devils squandered a two-goal lead in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday night as the Spanish visitors struck late to level things up ahead of the second leg in seven days.

Christian Eriksen, Facundo Pellistri, Harry Maguire, Wout Weghorst and Anthony Elanga all came on in the second halfCredit: GettyErik ten Hag was criticized for his substitutionsCredit: Getty

Man Utd conceded an equalizer in stoppage time after being reduced to 10 men when Lisandro Martinez was taken down through injury.

Ten Hag had used his five changes back then.

Raphael Varane was sent off after 45 minutes for Harry Maguire, before a 62nd-minute triple substitution saw Christian Eriksen, Wout Weghorst and Anthony Elanga replace Bruno Fernandes, Anthony Martial and Jadon Sancho.

Then, nine minutes from the end, Antony gave way to Facundo Pellistri.

And the Man Utd faithful were left frustrated by Ten Hag’s changes after Tyrell Malacia and Maguire scored their own late goals to give up the Red Devils advantage.

Reacting on social media, one person said: ‘I love the guy but Ten Hags subs were absolutely stupid.’

Another replied: “Erik Ten Hag just takes the blame for it. No impact from submarines.”

A third added: “It was a self inflicted #MUFC implosion. Madness Ten Hag took out their best players and then did the 5 subs to make sure they were vulnerable and played the end of the game. game with 10 men.”

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A fourth replied: “Ten Hags’ tactics and substitutions are infuriating as soon as he takes a lead.”

And another said: “That stupid pass from Weghorst shattered the whole Man Utd timeline tonight. Butterfly effect thanks to ten witches and his tactics.”

Amid fan criticism, Ten Hag defended his substitutions after the game.

He said: “I had to do them. There was no other way. Rapha got injured, it was the first one I had to do. And then Anthony Martial, first starter after a long spell , so we had to do it on the 60”. .

“Then Bruno: I had the warning from the referees, he was short before a second booking and the same for Antony dos Santos. So I had to make the substitutes, I had no other choice.

“But we still controlled the game. We still had to score the third goal. It was a good move from Pelle [Pellistri] and Ty [Malacia] has a big 3-0 chance in the 81st minute.

“And then the last 10 minutes of the game, everything was against us. We have to be smarter, we switch off for the first goal, then we get Licha’s injury [Martinez]another bad luck.

“The two goals against, the two deflected, what can you do? Sometimes you have bad days and bad luck. Tonight was not our night.”

But Man Utd legend Paul Scholes agreed with supporters that Ten Hag was wrong.

He told BT Sport: “Great result for Sevilla. Man Utd were very calm in the second half, they didn’t create any chances.

“These substitutes have weakened the team… you half understand that Anthony Martial is fragile.

“But in the second half, United were really sloppy. If the away goals were still there, United would face an uphill battle.

“You’ve seen enough to see that Sevilla aren’t great, but it’s going to be tough.”

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