NYON: England’s five clubs all emerged unbeaten after the first legs of UEFA the Champions League second round after a dull Manchester United performance was sufficient to earn a 0-0 draw with Sevilla in Spain.

United offered poor fare after the goalscoring exploits of Manchester City and Liverpool and the dramas served up by Tottenham and Chelsea.

In the night’s other tie Shakhtar Donetsk hit back from a goal down to win 2-1 at home to Roma; second-half goals from Facundo and Fred surpassed a 41^st-minute strike from Cengiz Under.

In Spain United manager Jose Mourinho surprisingly left Paul Pogba on the substitutes’ bench but had to bring him into the action after only 16 minutes when Ander Herrera was injured attempting a backheel. This was Pogba’s first Champions League substitute appearance since April 2013 for Juventus against FC Bayern.

Minutes later United should have taken the lead. Sanchez dropped an angled ball into the penalty and Romelu Lukaku, with time and space, volleyed wastefully over the crossbar.

United could have been punished twice for their waste before half-time. First De Gea pushed over the bar a header from Steven Nzonzi then he produced an even better reflex save from Luis Muriel at close range. An astonished Muriel generously shook De Gea’s hand as the teams came off at half-time.

United, from taking command after Pogba’s arrival, had let control of the game escape them but neither side proved competent enough to score even once.

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