Manchester United vs. Real Betis - Football Match Report - March 9, 2023 - ESPN

Manchester United totally outclassed a quality Real Betis side in a 4-1 Europa League round-of-16, first-leg win on Thursday night.

With the snow falling at Old Trafford, Marcus Rashford and Ayoze Perez traded first-half tallies before United hit top gear in the second stanza with goals from Antony, Bruno Fernandes and Wout Weghorst staking them to a comfortable lead ahead of the second leg at the Benito Villamarin Stadium on March 16.

— Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.) — Europa League knockout round draw: Full details

Manager Erik ten Hag picked the exact same XI as he did for Sunday's 7-0 Premier League thrashing at the hands of Liverpool and, despite beating Barcelona in the previous round, United went into the match knowing all five of their past European campaigns came to an end at the hands of Spanish opposition.

Recent history aside, the United manager got the response he was looking for when Fernandes set Rashford up in the penalty area and the prolific No. 10 cut to his right and powered a shot into the roof of Claudio Bravo's net to open the scoring inside of 10 minutes.

United had firm control of the opening minutes and Weghorst had two chances to double the lead before 20 minutes, but the Netherlands international saw Bravo save his first effort and flashed just wide of the near post from a Luke Shaw pass with his second.

Despite their dominance, United found themselves back on level terms in the 32nd minute as Ayoze Perez lashed a low shot from distance that was just past the outstretched arm of David De Gea to make it 1-1.

A woeful ball out of the back from De Gea set Betis up to take lead just before the break, but the United keeper was spared by the post after Perez's deflected effort