A year ago
Manchester United refocused with a 4-1 triumph over Real Betis in the main leg of their Europa Association round of 16 conflict at Old Trafford. Only days after embarrassment on account of Liverpool, an unaltered United side answered savagely to place one foot in the quarter-finals.
It was not all plain cruising for Erik ten Witch's side however, with Ayoze Perez leveling in the main half after Marcus Rashford gave the hosts an early need. A solid last part put United in charge however, as Antony directed home a brand name styler and Bruno Fernandes made a beeline for guarantee a firm lead before Wout Weghorst added further sparkle to the scoreline.
United emerged from the blocks flying and having proactively seen a Weghorst objective denied for offside, started to lead the pack in the 6th moment as Rashford covered off a fine counter-assault to crush into the top corner. Claudio Bravo was called right into it to deny Weghorst and Rashford, before Betis leveled contrary to the rules when Juanmi cut a pass to Leicester City loanee Perez, who penetrated into the furthest corner and allow David de Gea no opportunity.
Two minutes before the break, the guests nearly started to lead the pack. De Gea carelessly offered the ball to Juanmi, who took care of a pass through to Perez however United pulled off it as his pass across the essence of objective was diverted onto the post by Lisandro Martinez.
United retook the lead seven minutes after the restart, Antony cutting inside onto his left foot and twisting past the compass of Bravo from fresh. The hosts' benefit was multiplied only six minutes after the fact, Fernandes tracking down space at the close to post to head Luke Shaw's corner home notwithstanding Bravo getting two hands to the ball.
Bravo kept the scoreline decent with various urgent saves however could not do anything as Weghorst tucked home on the bounce back after Scott McTominay's work was saved, with United on course for the quarter-finals.
What's the significance here? United answer in style. A hot few days for United in the repercussions of Sunday's loss at Anfield prompted a lot of inquiries concerning how Ten Witch's side would answer and whether the outcome would crash what has been a respectable presentation season for the Dutchman.
The reaction was determined, having the ball in the net two times inside the initial six minutes, while figuring out how to keep prudent after Betis' balancer and seeing the LaLiga outfit strike the post. While the final part against Liverpool was destructive, it was the inverse at Old Trafford, with an attack on Bravo's net that ought to give enough of a benefit to the following week's outing to Seville.
United's initial objective through Rashford was United's twelfth through quick circumstances in all contests this season, more than some other side from Europe's main five associations, with Rashford scoring six of them. The strike took Rashford to 26 in all rivalries this season, behind just Kylian Mbappe (30) and Erling Haaland (33), having scored 15 objectives in 18 beginnings since the World Cup break.
Rout for Betis leaves the Seville club with only one triumph in their last seven knockout matches in the Europa Association (D3 L3), with a sole success in that run coming in February 2022 against Zenit St Petersburg. In the opposition, their three knockout triumphs all-opportunity have arrived away from home - which doesn't look good for the following week's bring apparatus back.
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