Manchester United bounced back from their Liverpool nightmare over the weekend to beat Real Betis 4-1 in their Europa League round of 16 clash at Old Trafford on Thursday evening.
Erik Ten Hag’s men knew they had a tough task of reassuring their fans after they were thrashed 7-0 in the Premier League clash at Anfield.
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Although the weather was quite cold on the night, Manchester United warmed the hearts of their fans with an impressive performance to beat Manuel Pellegrini’s men.
Marus Rashford opened scoring for the Red Devils in the sixth, sending his shot crashing past Claudio Bravo into the roof of the net.
Real Betis levelled in the 32nd minute through January signee, Ayoze Perez. The former Leicester City forward received a good overhead pass from Juanmi, brought it down with his chest and sent his strike to the far left corner.
Juanmi was feared to have handled the ball before supplying Perez, however, the goal was given.
Betis had a chance to take the lead after goalkeeper David De Gea misplaced a pass, which started an attack for the visitors, but they could not take advantage and the defence cleared to safety.
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Antony, who is having a mixed first season in England, handed Manchester United their second goal in the 52nd minute with captain Bruno Fernandes pulling the strings.
Fernandes then grabbed his goal two minutes later to make it 3-1.
Wout Weghorst, who was yet to score at Old Trafford, got the fourth in the 82nd minute.
United have the upper hand going into the second leg to be played next week.
Other results
Juventus vs Freiburg
Juventus could only score once against a resolute Freiburg in the encounter. Angel Di Maria put the Old Lady in front in the 53rd minute.
Although Lucas Holer pulled one back for Freiburg, it was ruled out for a foul in the build-up.
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Sevilla vs Fenerbahce
Joan Jordan gave Sevilla the lead in the 56th minute at the Estadio R. Sanchez Pizjuan and Erik Lamela grabbed the second in the 85th minute.
The second leg will be played next week at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey.
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Shakhtar Donetsk vs Feyenoord
Both sides shared the spoils as the match ended 1-1.
Shakhtar’s Yaroslav Rakitskiy scored first in the 79th minute before Ezequiel Eduardo Bullaude levelled for the visiting Dutch side in the 88th minute.
