Manchester United recovers from Liverpool debacle: 4-1 against Real Betis

Manchester United has retaliated in the Europa League for the embarrassing 7-0 defeat to rival Liverpool in the league. The first game in the eighth finals against Real Betis produced a convincing 4-1 victory. Wout Weghorst was one of the English goal scorers.

Erik ten Hag had not hidden his outrage over his team’s underperformance at Anfield Road, but gave last weekend’s failing eleven another chance against the Spanish guests. Weghorst, so criticized by the outside world, was allowed to play in the striker’s box again.

It seemed as if the Dutch manager’s message had come through loud and clear, because after only six minutes Marcus Rashford had the 1-0 scored with a high and dry shot. It was already the 26th season goal of the striker who blossomed under Ten Hag. A Spanish foot prevented Weghorst’s 2-0 ten minutes later.

The home team dictated the game in the first half hour, but failed to convert that into a second goal and promptly got the lid on it. On a beautiful pass from Juanmi, who seemed to use his arm lightly to get the ball under control, Ayoze Pérez cleverly popped the ball into the far corner with a hard slide with an outside right: 1-1.

Shortly before halftime, the ‘Red Devils even escaped a deficit after goalkeeper David De Gea once again put the ball into play sloppily. Pérez, who spent five seasons under contract at Newcastle United and four years at Leicester City, thought to punish the mistake, but his effort, which was touched by a United leg, bounced against the post.

The second half was six minutes old when Antony once again brought out his specialty: he turned in from the right and beautifully turned the ball with his left towards the far cross: 2-1. Even before the hour of football was full, the captain Bruno Fernandes, so reviled after the Liverpool debacle, headed the 3-1 behind the weakly reacting Claudio Bravo, the now 39-year-old Chilean.

After a nice English attack Antony could have helped his team to a fourth goal, but he tipped the ball over goalkeeper and crossbar where he could have chosen to pass to a teammate. Another great chance was also wasted on Antony, while in between Fernandes escaped a red card when he went hard on goalkeeper Bravo.

Weghorst also finally got his reward. He made the final score 4-1 on the rebound, putting United in a good position for next week’s return game.