MANCHESTER, England: Erik ten Hag says there’s a Dutch expression about hindsight. The Manchester United manager was defending his substitution decisions from Thursday’s 2-2 draw with Sevilla in the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals at Old Trafford. “Where I’m coming from you call it ‘you’re looking a cow in the (behind),’” Ten Hag said Friday at a news conference. “We call it that in my region from the Netherlands.” United finished the match with 10 men because Ten Hag had used up his five substitutions before defender Lisandro Martinez left the game with a lower-leg injury shortly after Sevilla scored to make it 2-1 in the 84th minute.
The visitors pulled even on Harry Maguire’s own goal in stoppage time. Bruno Fernandes was on a yellow card when he was subbed off just past the hour mark.
He had risked a second by throwing the ball away. “When he (gets) sent off you tell me, ‘hey why don’t you get him off?’” It’s not the first time a United manager used a colorful and anatomical phrase — Alex Ferguson popularized “squeaky-bum time” when describing the tense late moments of a game.
Meanwhile, Ten Hag had no immediate update on Martinez and fellow center-back Raphael Varane, who also left Thursday’s game with an injury. “Sorry, no.