Manchester United bounced back from their heaviest league defeat at the weekend from the 7-0 loss to Liverpool with a 4-1 victory over Real Betis on Thursday in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round of 16 encounter.

However, the win against the Spaniards did not come easily, as Manchester United needed three goals in the second half to see off their Spanish opponents. Incidentally, Erik Ten Hag’s side needed to get past another Spanish opponent Barcelona in the playoff rounds to get to the round of 16.

The Red Devils got the right start with Wout Weghouerst scoring in the 5th minute of the game, only for his goal to be ruled out for offside. Moments later, Marcus Rashford scored again, and this time around, it counted, and Manchester United took the lead in the game.

Former Newcastle and Leicester City forward Ayoze Perez equalized for the visitors in the 33rd minute as both sides went into the break level on the score line.

After the break, the hosts put up a dominant display to score two goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half. The first goal in the second half was scored by Brazilian forward Antony.

Bruno Fernandes was in the news for all the wrong reasons since the 7-0 bashing in the hands of Liverpool as his behaviour during the game towards the referee as the captain of the Red Devils was criticized by many.

However, on Thursday, he was in the good books for the right reasons scoring Manchester United’s third goal of the game and second in the second half 2 minutes before the hour mark.

Wout Weghorst had the final goal eight minutes before the end of regular time to complete the 4-1 score line. Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford after the games spoke about the importance of getting a victory immediately after a loss.

“It is always important to win the next fixture after a loss; it is the only way to bounce back and continue to the momentum we had before the game,” Rashford said.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu