Antony of Manchester United, left, with Marcus Rashford of Manchester United during the Manchester United 16 first leg football match between Manchester United and Real Betis at Old Trafford Stadium on Thursday, March 9, 2023 Celebrate after scoring a goal. , Photo Credit: AP
“Bruno! Bruno!” There is resonance around Old Trafford as the healing process begins for Manchester United.
The wounds of Sunday’s humiliating 7-0 defeat by Liverpool are fresh. But a 4-1 win against Real Betis in the Europa League was an encouraging response from Erik ten Haag’s players.
None more so than Bruno Fernandes, who scored one goal in Thursday’s round-of-16 first leg and played a role in two more.
United manager Ten Haag said, “I think he was the best player on the pitch, it shows his personality.”
The Dutchman had given his team the chance to start making amends for Anfield by naming an unchanged lineup. This had the desired effect.
Marcus Rashford scored his 26th goal of the season.
Antony fired a shot into the top corner from distance. And Wat Weghorst, who had faced a backlash on social media for touching the famous “This is Anfield” sign, showed his emotions as he fired in United’s fourth.
But perhaps no one needed redemption more than Fernandes, who bore the brunt of the criticism after his collapse against Liverpool. His efforts on this occasion were approved by the United fans as well as by Ten Haag.
“Bruno was fantastic. He led the team with his control of the game and passing, and then he scored a goal,” Ten Haag said.
The Portugal international ran towards the Stretford End after giving United a 3-1 lead in the 58th minute and put his hands over his ears as if to shut out the noise after Sunday’s defeat.
There was a moment when he let his enthusiasm get the better of him with a late challenge on Betis goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, but this was the night he showed his passion in the right way by taking United into the quarter-finals.
Former United captain and now TV analyst Gary Neville branded Fernandes’ performance against Liverpool a “disgrace”.
He was United’s driving force against Betis.
The Old Trafford crowd loudly sang his name as he walked onto the field to confirm that he still had their support.
It was his cross that scored the opening goal after six minutes when Luis Felipe turned the ball into the path of Rashford. The England striker entered the box and fired a shot into the top corner.
Leicester’s on-loan forward Ayoze Perez equalized in the 32nd minute when he headed past David de Gea. Perez was denied with just seconds to spare when Fernandes’ challenge saw his shot turn against the post before the break.
Antony put United ahead seven minutes into the second half with a curling effort from outside the box after being played in by Fernandes. United’s number 8 went from provider to goal-scorer when he headed in Luke Shaw’s corner to put his team in complete control.
But perhaps the biggest joy of the night came when Weghorst smashed the ball home in the 82nd over after missing his first chances. The raw emotion was evident as he celebrated only his second goal since joining on loan from Burnley in January and his first at Old Trafford.
held arsenal
Premier League leaders Arsenal were held 2-2 at Sporting Lisbon in their Europa League round-of-16 first leg match.
A Hidemasa Morita own goal in the 62nd minute saved a draw for Arsenal to secure a place in the quarter-finals at the Emirates Stadium next Thursday.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said, “There are things to improve, but we have shown a lot of resilience.”
Morita lofts Granit Xhaka’s long-range drive into his net.
Arsenal dominated early possession and went ahead through William Saliba. The defender headed in the opener for Arsenal from a corner by Fabio Vieira to capitalize on the early pressure in the 22nd.
Sporting equalized with an almost identical reply, as Arsenal’s defense looked vulnerable.
Gonzalo Inacio Saliba headed home a goal from goalkeeper Matt Turner’s Marcus Edwards corner 12 minutes later.
It was Sporting’s first goal against Arsenal in their fifth match in European competitions.
Pogba out for ‘disciplinary reasons’
Juventus’ Argentina forward Angel Di Maria celebrates after opening the scoring during the UEFA Europa League 16 first-leg football match between Juventus and SC Freiburg at Juventus Stadium on March 9, 2023 in Turin. , photo credit: AFP
Ángel Di María headed in a second-half winner to give Juventus a 1–0 first leg win over Freiburg.
The 35-year-old veteran has scored four goals in his last two Europa League games.
Juventus were without midfielder Paul Pogba who was dropped for “disciplinary reasons”.
other results
Elsewhere, Joan Jordan and Erik Lamela set up six-time champions Sevilla’s 2-0 win over Fenerbahçe.
Ezequiel Bouloude scored a late equalizer to secure a 1-1 draw for Feyenoord at Shakhtar Donetsk, the last Ukrainian team to feature in European competitions this season. Yaroslav Rakitic scored for the hosts in Warsaw in the face of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.
Substitute Sven Michel saved a 3–3 draw for Union Berlin against Union Saint-Gilloise with a goal one minute before the end in the German capital.
At Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, Jose Mourinho’s Roma took a step closer to promotion with a 2-0 win over Real Sociedad.
Tammy Abraham set up the opening goal for Stephan El Shaarawy to finish a quick counter in the first half, before substitute defender Marash Kumbulla doubled the advantage with a close-range header.
Bayer Leverkusen had the same advantage over Ferencvaros after Kerem Demirbey opened the scoring in the 10th, and Edmond Tapsoba added the second for the hosts.
Europa Conference League results
Michael Antonio scored twice in the first half to help West Ham beat AEK Larnaca 2–0 in Cyprus.
Despite a troubled season in the Premier League, the Hammers are racing into third-tier European competition with a perfect record.
Fiorentina recorded a 1–0 win over Turkey’s Sivspor, and Nice beat Sheriff 1–0 in Moldova, while Poland’s Lech Poznan beat Swedish club Djurgården 2–0. There were also draws: Basel and Slovan Bratislava 2–2, Gent and Istanbul Basaksehir 1–1.