(Football news) After a humiliating defeat to Liverpool, Manchester United bounced back in emphatic fashion after defeating Real Betis 4-1 in the Europa League. The Red Devils struggled at times against Manuel Pellegrini’s side and were fortunate to be level at half-time when Ayoze Perez, who scored Betis’ opening goal hit the post. Marcus Rashford opened the scoring in the 6th minute but Ayoze Perez cancelled the lead in the 32nd minute.

Antony then restored the one goal cushion in the 52nd minute with a curling effort while Bruno Fernandes’ powerful header doubled the lead. Wout Weghorst added a fourth after some excellent work from Facundo Pallestri. Manchester United could have easily scored more with Antony and Wout Weghorst missing glorious opportunities but a 4-1 result puts the Red Devils in pole position to qualify for the quarter-finals ahead of the 2nd leg fixture in Spain.

Speaking after the match, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said “We played a very good game in both halves and by half-time we should have been up 3-0. But then it’s 1-1, one mistake and we get punished for it. But I thought we played well, especially in the second half. [Overall] 4-1, good goals, good performance and give something to the fans. They give us something back as well because they are behind us and we are very grateful after Sunday.

“It was a good attitude from the start, we were on the front foot, we were good on the ball, finding spare men in midfield. They made good switches, they made good runs behind and created a lot of chances. I’m happy today. It’s always how a team reacts after a setback – you see it once again, this is not the first time this season. Already it’s been five or six times, we can reset and bounce back. This team has character so it is a compliment to the team.”

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