Sports

Manchester United whip Real Betis 4-1 in Europa League

Manchester United got back on track with a 4-1 victory over Real Betis in their Europa League round of 16 clash at Old Trafford on Thursday.

Just days after a 7-0 humiliation at the hands of Liverpool, an unchanged Manchester United side responded fiercely in this first leg game to put one foot in the quarter-finals.

It was not all plain sailing for Erik ten Hag’s side though, with Ayoze Perez equalising in the first half after Marcus Rashford gave the hosts an early lead.

A strong second half put Manchester United in control though, as Antony guided home a trademark curler and Bruno Fernandes headed home to ensure a firm lead.

Manchester United came out of the blocks flying and, having already seen a Weghorst goal disallowed for offside, took the lead in the sixth minute.

Rashford capped off a fine counter-attack to smash into the top corner.

Claudio Bravo was called into action to deny Weghorst and Rashford, before Real Betis equalised against the run of play.

This was when Juanmi clipped a pass to Leicester City loanee Perez, who drilled into the far corner and give David de Gea no chance.

Two minutes before the break, the visitors almost took the lead.

De Gea sloppily gave the ball away to Juanmi, who fed a pass through to Perez.

But Manchester United got away with it as his pass across the face of goal was deflected onto the post by Lisandro Martinez.

Manchester United retook the lead seven minutes after the restart, Antony cutting inside onto his left foot and curling beyond the reach of Bravo from outside the penalty box.

The hosts’ advantage was doubled just six minutes later, Fernandes finding space at the near post to head Luke Shaw’s corner-kick home.

This was in spite of Bravo getting both hands to the ball.

Bravo kept the scoreline respectable with a number of crucial saves but could do nothing as Weghorst tucked home on the rebound after Scott McTominay’s effort was saved.

The Star

Editor

Recent Posts

Wike appoints ex-Fayose’s spokesman, Lere Olayinka, as SSA

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has appointed Lere Olayinka as…

7 hours ago

Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido, Tems, Asake nominated for Grammy Awards

Nigerian singers - Burna Boy, Wizkid, Tems, Yemi Alade, Asake, and Davido - have been…

7 hours ago

NSIB recovers black box of crashed helicopter in Rivers

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has recovered the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit…

8 hours ago

N10m extortion: IGP vows punishment for corrupt police officers

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has condemned alleged extortions by some police officers…

13 hours ago

Kaduna govt earmarks N93bn to boost water supply

The Kaduna State Government has announced plans to spend N93 billion over four years for…

17 hours ago

Trump picks campaign manager as White House chief of staff

United States President-elect Donald Trump, on Thursday, November 7, 2024, announced that one of his…

17 hours ago

This website uses cookies.