Antony flying after injury scare
There were concerns over the fitness of Antony during the warm-up, the Manchester United winger jogging down the tunnel in obvious pain with what looked like a problem in his back. Doubts surfaced as to whether the Brazilian would be fit to start, but whatever happened on the treatment table before kick-off worked wonders.
Antony came flying out of the blocks in the opening few minutes, playing through Jadon Sancho who found the net inside 25 seconds, unfortunately being flagged for a tight offside. But the Reds winger kept at it early, bombing past Sevilla left-back Marcos Acuna minutes later.
And the Brazilian fired a shot at goal on 12 minutes after some good footwork, yet another sharp moment after the initial scare, his problematic back in the past.
RATINGS: Martial and Sabitzer good in Sevilla draw
Ten Hag's ruthless urgency
Antony wasn't the only one flying out of the blocks in the opening period, with Marcel Sabitzer netting twice in seven minutes to hand United their early lead. Sevilla were all over the place at that point and every time Erik ten Hag's side went forward they looked like scoring.
Bruno Fernandes and Anthony Martial were finding bags of space as Jose Luis Mendilibar's side tried to catch a breath, not helped by their uncertainty in possession and an Old Trafford crowd that sensed blood.
Ten Hag evidently smelt the same and urged his side to up the intensity even further in search of more goals and a more handsome advantage. One of the ballboys closest to the home dugout even got a rollocking for hesitating during a throw-in, Ten Hag pacing towards them and clapping for them to move quicker in handing Aaron Wan-Bissaka the ball.
Fernandes fumes
Fernandes has never been one to control his emotions in front of referees and the United man was as animated as ever when receiving a yellow card for handball. The Portuguese midfielder dived in front of a shot, but despite being just yards away, was adjudged to have purposely blocked the effort with his arm.
Referee Felix Zwayer absurdly decided it was worthy of a yellow, which means Fernandes will now be suspended for the all-important second leg. The midfielder was far from happy and had to remove himself after a brief outburst, perhaps taking a breath before taking it too far.
For a moment, Tyrell Malacia looked to be playing mediator when Zwayer reached for his spray, but for a second it looked as though he was heading to the dreaded back pocket. Fernandes was undoubtedly unfortunate to be booked but was he lucky it ended there?
South American rivalries reignited
Antony produced one of his best performances in a United shirt and was pivotal in most of what the Reds did well. The Brazilian was a nightmare for Argentinian left-back Marcos Acuna and there was plenty of needle between the pair in the second half.
The Reds man may have counted himself lucky not to have been pulled up for a kick out, and when the pair went shoulder to shoulder in the corner by United's goal, there was always going to be a reaction. Antony puffed his chest out and the Old Trafford crowd responded, to which Acuna seemed to mock his bravado.
From the resulting corner, Antony looked set to challenge Acuna for an aerial ball but when the Sevilla man went in for the fifty-fifty, he backed away and the defender hit the deck, much to the enjoyment of Reds supporters down in that corner.
It was a mostly friendly rivalry, in all fairness, with the pair talking and laughing not long after before Acuna shook Antony's hand when he was substituted off.
Casemiro livid
Hindsight makes it a lot easier to claim United should have capitalised on the countless chances they had at 2-0 up, but Casemiro was already ruing missed opportunities before the late turnaround.
The Brazilian had bombed forward after a good spell of pressure from United, underlapping Anthony Elanga on the left side in acres of space. The Swede opted to cut inside and swing a cross towards Wout Weghorst which was not met by the Dutchman.
Casemiro turned round and made no secret of his frustration, gesturing towards his run before jogging back into position far from happy.
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