Manchester United made a stunning comeback, defeating Real Betis 4-1 in the first leg of the Europa League last 16 tie on Thursday, thanks to goals from Marcus Rashford, Antony, Bruno Fernandes, and Wout Weghorst.
This is after their crushing defeat against Liverpool, which saw the Red Devils lose 7-0.
Meanwhile, Arsenal was held to a 2-2 draw by Sporting Lisbon, leaving them with work to do to reach the quarter-finals.
Despite their recent debacle, United’s coach Erik Ten Hag showed faith in his team by fielding the same starting line-up, which proved to be a wise decision as they regained their form and dominated the game. He was pleased with his team’s resilience, saying “This team has a character so a big compliment to the team.”
Marcus Rashford scored the opening goal of the game, putting United ahead early on. However, Betis equalized against the run of play when Ayoze Perez fired a shot into the far corner.
Antony scored a stunning goal by curling the ball into the top corner, giving Manchester United the lead once again. Bruno Fernandes, who was named captain by Ten Hag, added to United’s advantage by heading in a corner from Luke Shaw.
Meanwhile, Arsenal faced a tough challenge away to Sporting Lisbon and were forced to come from behind to secure a 2-2 draw.
William Saliba and Granit Xhaka scored for Arsenal, but they were also guilty of giving the ball away too often, according to their manager Mikel Arteta.
In other Europa League matches, Juventus edged out Freiburg 1-0, while Roma defeated Real Sociedad 2-0. Sevilla, despite struggling in La Liga, recorded a 2-0 victory over Fenerbahce, while Union Berlin managed a 3-3 draw against Union Saint-Gilloise.
Bayer Leverkusen beat Ferencvaros 2-0, and Shakhtar Donetsk and Feyenoord drew 1-1.
In the UEFA Conference League, West Ham United secured a 2-0 win over AEK Larnaca, with Michael Antonio scoring twice.
Villarreal and Nice took 1-1 leads over Anderlecht and Sheriff Tiraspol, respectively, while Fiorentina had a 1-0 lead over Sivasspor.
