Manchester United’s Antony, left, celebrates with Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford after scoring his facet’s second purpose in the course of the Europa League spherical of 16 first-leg soccer match between Manchester United and Real Betis on the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, Thursday, March 9, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP
Chants of “Bruno! Bruno!” reverberated round Old Trafford because the therapeutic course of started for Manchester United.
The wounds from Sunday’s humiliating 7-0 rout by Liverpool stay contemporary. But a 4-1 win in opposition to Real Betis within the Europa League was an encouraging response from Erik ten Hag’s gamers.
None extra so than Bruno Fernandes, who scored one and had a job in two extra within the round-of-16 first leg on Thursday.
“I think he was the best player on the pitch, it showed his personality,” United supervisor Ten Hag mentioned.
The Dutchman had given his group the prospect to start making amends for Anfield by naming an unchanged lineup. It had the specified impact.
Marcus Rashford scored his twenty sixth purpose of the season.
Antony swept a shot into the highest nook from distance. And Wout Weghorst, who had confronted a backlash on social media for touching the well-known “This is Anfield” signal, let his emotion present when firing in United’s fourth.
But maybe nobody wanted redemption greater than Fernandes, who obtained the brunt of the criticism after the collapse in opposition to Liverpool. On this event his efforts had been greeted with approval by United followers in addition to Ten Hag.
“Bruno was fantastic. He led the team with his control of the game and passing and then he scored a goal,” Ten Hag mentioned.
The Portugal worldwide raced towards the Stretford End after heading United right into a 3-1 lead within the 58th minute and positioned his fingers over his ears as if to close out the noise that has adopted Sunday’s loss.
There was a second when he let his enthusiasm overflow with a late problem on Betis goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, however this was night time when he channeled his ardour in the suitable means by placing United inside attain of the quarterfinals.
Former United captain and now TV analyst Gary Neville had labeled Fernandes’ efficiency in opposition to Liverpool a “disgrace.”
Against Betis he was United’s driving drive.
The Old Trafford crowd sang his title loud as he walked out onto the sphere to substantiate he nonetheless had their assist.
It was his cross that led to the opening purpose after six minutes when Luiz Felipe diverted the ball into Rashford’s path. The England striker drove into the field and lashed a shot into the highest nook.
The sport was degree at halftime after on-loan Leicester ahead Ayoze Perez fired a low shot previous David de Gea within the thirty second. Perez was solely denied a second when Fernandes’ problem diverted his shot in opposition to the submit earlier than the break.
Antony put United again in entrance seven minutes into the second half with a curling effort from exterior of the field after being performed in by Fernandes. United’s No. 8 went from supplier to goal-scorer when he headed in Luke Shaw’s nook to place his group in full management.
But maybe the most important cheer of the night time got here when Weghorst lashed the ball house within the 82nd after lacking a number of earlier possibilities. The uncooked emotion was evident as he celebrated solely his second purpose since becoming a member of on mortgage from Burnley in January and his first at Old Trafford.
Arsenal held
Premier League chief Arsenal was held 2-2 at Sporting Lisbon of their Europa League round-of-16 first-leg match.
Hidemasa Morita’s personal purpose within the 62nd minute salvaged the draw for Arsenal forward of the return leg at Emirates Stadium subsequent Thursday for a spot within the quarterfinals.
“There are issues to enhance, however we confirmed a number of resilience,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said.
Morita deflected Granit Xhaka’s long-distance drive into his own net.
Arsenal dominated early possession and went ahead through William Saliba. The defender headed in the opener for Arsenal from a corner from Fábio Vieira to capitalize on early pressure in the 22nd.
Sporting equalized with almost an identical reply, as Arsenal’s defense looked vulnerable.
Gonçalo Inácio headed home off a Marcus Edwards corner past goalkeeper Matt Turner 12 minutes after Saliba’s goal.
It was Sporting’s first goal against Arsenal in their fifth encounter in European competitions.
Pogba dropped due to ‘disciplinary reasons’
Juventus’ Argentinian ahead Angel Di Maria celebrates after opening the scoring in the course of the UEFA Europa League spherical of 16 first-leg soccer match between Juventus and SC Freiburg on March 9, 2023, on the Juventus stadium in Turin.
| Photo Credit:
AFP
Ángel Di María headed within the winner within the second half to provide Juventus a 1-0 first-leg win over Freiburg.
The 35-year-old veteran has scored 4 objectives in his final two Europa League video games.
Juventus was with out midfielder Paul Pogba who was dropped as a consequence of “disciplinary reasons.”
Other outcomes
Elsewhere, Joan Jordán and Erik Lamela scored in a 2-0 win for six-time champion Sevilla over Fenerbahçe.
Ezequiel Bullaude equalized late to safe a 1-1 draw for Feyenoord at Shakhtar Donetsk, the final Ukrainian group left on this season’s European competitions. Yaroslav Rakitskyy scored for the hosts in Warsaw due to the Russian navy invasion of Ukraine.
Substitute Sven Michel salvaged a 3-3 draw for Union Berlin in opposition to Union Saint-Gilloise with a purpose a minute from the tip within the German capital.
At Stadio Olimpico in Rome, José Mourinho’s Roma made a step towards advancing with a 2-0 victory over Real Sociedad.
Tammy Abraham arrange the opening purpose for Stephan El Shaarawy to complete a quick counter within the first half earlier than substitute defender Marash Kumbulla doubled the benefit with a close-range header.
Bayer Leverkusen had the identical benefit over Ferencváros after Kerem Demirbay opened the scoring within the tenth, and Edmond Tapsoba added the second for the hosts.
Europa Conference League outcomes
Michail Antonio struck twice within the first half to information West Ham previous AEK Larnaca 2-0 in Cyprus.
Despite a troubled season within the Premier League, the Hammers have been cruising within the third-tier European competitors with an ideal file.
Fiorentina received 1-0 over Turkey’s Sivasspor, and Nice beat Sheriff in Moldova 1-0, whereas Poland’s Lech Poznan defeated Swedish membership Djurgarden 2-0. There had been additionally attracts: Basel and Slovan Bratislava 2-2, Gent and Istanbul Basaksehir 1-1.
Source web site: www.thehindu.com
