Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag hailed goalscoring skipper Bruno Fernandes as the star man in his side’s Europa League last-16 first-leg victory against Real Betis.
But Ten Hag confirmed in the build-up the Portuguese would remain captain if Harry Maguire was not on the field – and Fernandes repaid that faith with an outstanding contribution to a much-needed win.
It included his eighth goal of the season as he headed home Luke Shaw’s 58th-minute corner.
“He was the best player on the pitch,” said Ten Hag. “He played a little deeper role and he was brilliant, making the game from the back position, with a lot of good passes in between the lines. From there we created a lot of chances.”
Ten Hag accepted Fernandes was not perfect. A late tackle on Betis’ former Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo brought the midfielder a yellow card and did not look good.
But the United boss admitted it is a fine line Fernandes has to tread.
“His passion is his strength,” added Ten Hag. “But sometimes he has to control that because when it’s too much, it becomes a weakness. He knows that, but there are always small margins.”
Fernandes ran away to celebrate his goal with his hands to his ears as the home fans chanted ‘Bruno, Bruno’ in his honour, showing they are behind him as well.
Marcus Rashford, Antony and Wout Weghorst were also on the scoresheet as United put themselves in a strong position to reach the last eight when the tie is concluded in Seville next week.
But Ten Hag knows one win alone will not banish the memory of Sunday’s annihilation at Anfield, especially as he had been irritated by some of his side’s performances preceding it, including the Carabao Cup final victory against Newcastle.
“We don’t ignore it,” he said. “We made mistakes and we got hammered. We showed complacency and you can never do that in top football.
“In the weeks before, I was not happy against Newcastle and the performance against Leicester in the first half, but sometimes you have to get the bad result where everyone opens their eyes.”
In his programme notes, Ten Hag described the Anfield debacle as ‘unacceptable’ and said he had left his players in no doubt such performances would not be tolerated.
And, in a move that smacked of the Dutchman applying collective responsibility for the loss rather than singling out individuals for blame, he named an unchanged line-up.
For half an hour, all went well.
The hosts dominated as Rashford drove home his 26th goal of a magnificent season in the sixth minute after Fernandes’ cross had been diverted into his path.
Further chances were created – the issue was none of them went in.
Bravo twice denied Rashford, Fernandes had a shot blocked and Weghorst’s near-post effort was deflected wide even though he didn’t get a corner.
Betis’ form in La Liga, where they are fifth, suggested they were not as poor as it appeared and Ayoze Perez proved it when he drilled home a low shot from the angle of the penalty area.
Had the on-loan Leicester City forward got a second after he was set up by Juanmi – gifted possession by David de Gea, who rolled a pass straight to him from inside his six-yard box – anxiety might have spread through home ranks.
As it was, Perez’s deflected shot bounced back off a post and United survived – although question marks remain over keeper De Gea, whose contract expires in the summer.
Even Betis coach Manuel Pellegrini, who barely said anything noteworthy to the media during his three years as Manchester City boss, couldn’t resist a pre-match dig at United after their seven-goal defeat at Liverpool.
As the weeks pass, it will be interesting to see if any individual does pay a price for what unfolded in what many view as the Premier League’s greatest rivalry.
For now though, it can be claimed normal service has resumed.
Antony’s superb curling shot restored the home side’s advantage seven minutes after the restart and Weghorst found the net with a first-time strike eight minutes from time.
The key element of that late effort though was the contribution of Facundo Pellistri.
Good enough to play all three games for Uruguay in Qatar at the World Cup, the 21-year-old was only making his fifth United appearance, all off the bench.
But Pellistri’s role in Weghorst’s second United goal suggests he will be called upon more often as the campaign reaches its crucial phase.
Ignoring the safety-first option of a pass back to halfway, he took off on a run past the Betis defence to the byeline where he sent a cross back to Scott McTominay, whose effort was blocked and bounced kindly for Weghorst to finish. – BBC
Arsenal Held At Sporting
Arsenal fought back to earn a 2-2 draw in an action-packed and error-filled Europa League last-16 first leg at Sporting.
The Gunners, who were still without Gabriel Jesus despite his recent return to training, initially took the lead when William Saliba headed home from a corner in the 22nd minute.
But Sporting hit back with a header of their own, Goncalo Inacio glancing in from a set piece before taking a shock lead at the start of the second half after Paulinho tapped in from close range.
Arsenal, though, made sure the return leg on Thursday March 16 would start on an even keel when Granit Xhaka’s attempted pass deflected off Hidemasa Morita and into his own net.
Pedro Goncalves had a wonderful chance in the sixth minute when he latched on to a long ball in behind the Arsenal defence and beat Saliba inside the box, but shot wide with a placed effort.
Saliba was soon heading in the opener at the other end as he rose unmarked to meet Fabio Vieira’s in-swinging corner from six yards. Sporting felt the goal should have been disallowed due to Oleksandr Zinchenko grappling with a defender, but the VAR disagreed.
However, the hosts hit back with a carbon-copy of Saliba’s goal when Inacio glanced in from a corner as goalkeeper Matt Turner hesitated and didn’t come off his line to claim the delivery.
Former Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin was not in the Sporting squad. Francisco Trincao, who was on loan at Wolves last season, Enfield-born winger Marcus Edwards and former Liverpool defender Sebastian Coates all started.
Gabriel Jesus was not in the Arsenal squad as Mikel Arteta made six changes. Jakub Kiwior earned his first minutes, Matt Turner started in goal with Ben White returning at right-back. Jorginho and Granit Xhaka came into the midfield as Reiss Nelson made his first start since before the World Cup.
Turner had a mixed evening on his first start since January, saving well from Marcus Edwards but then almost played his side into trouble when passing out from the back. Up the other end, goalkeeper Antonio Adan made a crucial save with his left leg to keep out Granit Xhaka’s close-range header from a corner.
Arsenal pushed to regain the lead at the start of the second half, seeing Adan keep out Gabriel Martinelli’s dink before Vieira shot just wide from distance. And they were sucker-punched when Goncalves’ shot was parried by Turner into the path of Paulinho, who tapped in to put Sporting ahead.
Paulinho then had a huge chance to extend their lead as he was played in one-on-one by Goncalves, but fired over with his left foot. It proved a costly miss as within 60 seconds Xhaka’s attempted through ball deflected off Morita and wrong-footed Adan for 2-2.
Adan, though, did then keep out Vieira’s goal-bound header before the tempo finally dropped and both sides settled for a draw. – SkySports
Antonio Double Sees West Ham Win At Larnaca
A fine first-half double from Michail Antonio gave West Ham a 2-0 win at AEK Larnaca in their Europa Conference League last-16 first leg.
The forward was straight back into the side after a hamstring injury, although did go off after appearing to strain his calf on the hour.
However, Antonio played down any talk of another spell out, telling BT Sport after the game: “Hamstrings are good, my calf is good. I got a couple of kicks today and I think it just tightened up. I think I’ll be alright.”
The forward certainly made his mark, nodding home superbly in the 36th minute before a stunning, curling effort (45+1) doubled the Hammers’ lead – his first brace in 19 months. He could have made it the perfect hat-trick shortly after the break too, but saw his left-footed shot clatter the post.
However, he had already seen West Ham into a commanding position ahead of next Thursday’s second leg at the London Stadium.
Larnaca, who have never reached the last 16 of any European competition, certainly tested West Ham at the start and end of the game. They racked up 14 corners – West Ham had zero – but the Hammers’ quality shone through at both ends of the pitch.
“Tonight I knew was going to be difficult,” said West Ham boss David Moyes. “I didn’t think it would be a walkover and they did make it difficult and we held out and got a clean sheet.
“It’s nine games we’ve won in Europe now this season and that takes some doing.
“Not many managers and players get to back-to-back European quarter-finals. We’ve still got work to do to get there, but it’s not a bad achievement.
“Then the next part is getting to the semi-finals. We need to embrace it, enjoy it. There’s something different about Europe, even in a small stadium like tonight, it’s a great thrill to be involved at this level.”
West Ham players celebrate their side’s second goal during the Europa Conference League round of 16 first leg
Image: West Ham players celebrate their side’s second goal during the Europa Conference League round of 16 first leg
It took West Ham a while to get going as Larnaca began well. In the 18th minute, Marin Jakolis was fed down the left wing, dragging Thilo Kehrer and Nayef Aguerd towards him, but his cross was seen behind by Declan Rice. From the third successive corner of that spell, Nikos Englezou nodded just over.
But once West Ham found their quality, it was only a matter of time before the goals came. In the 31st minute, Manuel Lanzini sent his shot just wide after some good work from Antonio and Pablo Fornals. Seconds later, Said Benrahma’s shot was saved at the near post by Kenan Piric.
But it was an injury stoppage for Englezou just after that allowed David Moyes to chat to his squad – particularly Antonio – and the opening goal came from the striker just four minutes later. – SkySports
