Erik ten Hag has stood by his decision to substitute Bruno Fernandes and Antony on yellow cards during Manchester United’s 2-2 draw with Sevilla in their Europa League quarter-final first leg on Thursday.

Two late own goals from Tyrell Malacia and Harry Maguire undid the Red Devils’ dominance in the first half, cancelling out Marcel Sabitzer’s early brace for the hosts.

Manchester United’s collapse kicked in after Fernandes and Antony were substituted, but Ten Hag felt he couldn’t risk the pair picking up second yellow cards.

Sharing a well-known Dutch saying with reporters during his press conference after the match, Ten Hag urged that he would have been blamed either way for his decision.

‘We call it where I’m coming from, you’re looking a cow in the a**,’ Ten Hag said. ‘Yeah, a cow in the ass. 

Erik ten Hag used a bizarre Dutch saying to defend his decision to take off Bruno Fernandes (pictured) against Sevilla – urging that he was ‘looking at a cow in the a**’ on Thursday night

The Dutch boss urged he did the same with Antony (above), who was also shown a yellow card 

Ten Hag felt he couldn’t risk the pair picking up red cards with his squad already stretched thin

‘So we call it in my region from the Netherlands, that is easy. But when he got sent off you tell me: “Why don’t you get him off? Why don’t you go for the risk?”‘

Ten Hag revealed he was also told by referee Felix Zwayer that Fernandes was on thin ice and could have already been sent off earlier in the match.

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‘Because Bruno was throwing the ball away, the (referee said the) next (time) he’d be off,’ Ten Hag continued.

‘But he saved him because Sevilla did the same in the first half and the player from Seville got booked for it. 

‘(We were) 2-0 up, we were playing a good game, so don’t go into individual battles with your opponents, it’s not necessary. You’re heating up the opponent and risk getting sent off. I don’t want to take the risk.’

Fernandes will now miss the return leg in Seville as a result of the yellow card. 

United’s in-form Portuguese midfielder will miss their second leg after picking up his booking

Fernandes slid in to block Nemanja Gudelj’s shot, causing the ball to accidentally strike his arm

United crumbled after Fernandes went off in the second half for Danish star Christian Eriksen

The Portuguese midfielder picked up his booking after sliding in to block Nemanja Gudelj’s shot, which caused the ball to strike his arm.

Ex-Manchester United star and pundit Paul Scholes told BT Sport: ‘I thought the referee was poor all night. Any sign of a foul he couldn’t wait to get his yellow card out. Just give a free kick. It was not an intentional handball.’

Owen Hargreaves added: ‘It is a ridiculous decision from the referee. It is not a yellow card.’

Fernandes could not believe the decision, protesting forcefully to the official, perhaps knowing he would miss the second leg as a result.