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Manchester United have cruised through to the quarter finals of the Europa League after beating Real Betis 5-1 on aggregate.
The Reds beat Betis 1-0 on the night away from home. Pellistri showed a spark early on as he went running down the right but his cross was too high and too long.
The first real chance came for Betis though, Juanmi got into space behind the United defence but one v one with De Gea and he fluffed his shot wide of the post.
It gave the home team confidence though as they came again. This time a powerful shot from Joaquin was deflected off Casemiro and hit the woodwork.
Betis were the better team and United were looking stretched at the back. Rashford was getting into some good spaces but United needed to get the ball back and slow this down a bit.
Another opportunity fell for Betis as a long ball into the path of Perez presented a chance but De Gea was quick off his line and cleared the danger.
An early change for Betis forced the game to slow down a bit and United managed to have a good spell of possession.
Pellistri, hungry to win the ball in the attacking half, slid in and a Betis player stood on him but for some reason it was Pellistri who was given a yellow.
Another chance for Betis came and De Gea made a vital block to deny them from getting the first goal of the game.
It was getting tense out there though and Rashford found himself in a tussle near the corner flag.
Betis broke again and a shot on the edge of the area was blocked well by Maguire.
On the stroke of half time, United almost made the breakthrough. Following a free kick, Pellistri got good contact but found the post with his shot from six yards out. Weghorst almost got there for the tap in but it was cleared by the Spaniards.
The second half got underway and Rashford had a chance to dance into the box but he was dispossessed. A few minutes later and he had another opportunity but his shot was blazed over the bar.
United had a chance to counter as they found themselves four vs two for a moment, but Rashford’s shot was well saved by the keeper.
At the other end, a corner for Betis saw a near post header well saved by De Gea.
Rashford found himself through on goal as he twisted and turned past the defence and somehow managed to smash it into the top tier of the stadium!
He was clearly angry with himself but made up for the mistake moments later when he made the breakthrough. From outside the box, he smashed the ball with the outside of his foot, curling it into the bottom corner.
It took the sting out of Betis’ game, who didn’t threaten much after that. Weghorst had an opportunity to double United’s lead on the night but he hit his shot into the turf first and it was caught easily by the keeper.
Juanmi was getting a number of opportunities throughout the night but he couldn’t find the target. In the 86th minute he had a chance again but a heavy first touch took it out of his way and United cleared it.
The final whistle went and despite early pressure from the hosts in the second leg, United had comfortably cruised into the next round.
Team: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka (Dalot 75), Maguire, Martinez (Lindelof 75), Malacia, Fernandes, Casemiro, Pellistri, Fred (Sabitzer 60), Rashford (Sancho 60), Weghorst
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