Europa League: Man United return to winning ways, Arsenal hold Sporting

Manchester United have made a swift return to winning ways after the humiliating 7-0 defeat they suffered last weekend at the hands of Liverpool at Anfield.

On Thursday, in the first leg of their Europa League Round of 16 tie at Old Trafford, the Red Devils recorded a 4-1 victory over Real Betis to stay in pole position for a place in the quarter-final.

Erik Ten Hag kept faith in all his players as he fielded an unchanged team from the one that was hammered by the Reds.

It turned out to be a wise call as United came racing out of the blocks right from the blast of the whistle.

It took only six minutes before United got in front at Old Trafford.

Marcus Rashford continued his phenomenal run when he worked space for himself inside the box before lashing the ball beyond Claudio Bravo and into the roof of the net.

It was the 26th goal of the season for the relentless English forward.

Betis found a way back into the game with an equaliser from Ayoze Perez.

This meant the two sides went into the break on level terms.

United took the lead once again just after half-time courtesy of a beautiful finish by Antony.

The Brazilian picked up the ball on the right-hand side, roughly 25 yards out.

He cut inside before curling a sumptuous effort into the top corner.

United still had two more goals from the boots of Bruno Fernandez and Wout Weghorst to seal the 4-1 victory.

The Red Devils have one leg in the quarter-final but in football, anything can still happen.

Elsewhere, the other English team in the running for glory in the Europa League, Arsenal, held Sporting Lisbon to a thrilling 2-2 draw.

There were also plenty of goals in Germany where Union Berlin tied 3-3 against Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise.

Also, Roma defeated Spain’s Real Sociedad 2-0 while Hungary’s Ferencváros lost 2-0 to Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen.