Betis down and almost certainly out
A disappointing second half showing leaves Manuel Pellegrini’s side on the brink of a European exit.
The weather in Northern England has made the news this week, and sadly for Betis, it proved to be a metaphor for their night in Manchester. No happy headlines came out from their Europa League Round of 16 first leg at Old Trafford.
On Thursday afternoon the Beticos were singing in the soggy sleet and snow at Shambles Square, but by the end of the night they were being escorted back to the tram stop by police, trudging through the puddles.
The worst fears were manifest early, when Marcus Rashford scored after just five minutes of play, latching on to the loose ball after Bruno Fernandes’ scuffed ball across wasn’t dealt with effectively enough. It was a confident finish as United sought to right the multiple wrongs from their Anfield debacle. Rashford has now scored against six separate Spanish sides in European competition.
It could have been worse, Wout Weghost among those going close to doubling the lead. But Betis settled, started to pass the ball with composure, and grew into the game. David De Gea seemed unable to complete a pass with his feet, sending the ball straight to Betis players in the final third or just into touch.
The Betis equaliser was spectacular, and served to give fans something to take with them on the journey home. The ball was played across to Juanmi on the left edge of the box, and his chest control allowed him to cut inside before shaping to shoot. He waited for the defenders to move towards him before playing it wide to the onrushing Ayoze Pérez. He took the shot on early, before any of the United backline could get near him. His low drive arrowed towards the far post, with just a hint of shape to enable it to nestle in the net. The away end erupted and were singing constantly until the break, by which point the contest was even.
Unfortunately, Betis were on the wrong end of a second-half United resurgence, just like Barcelona were a fortnight ago. On that night Antony scored the decisive goal to make it 2-1 and he repeated the feat against Los Verdiblancos. His shot was spectacular, his classic left-footed curler from the inside right. Claudio Bravo was rooted, merely a spectator watching it sail above his head.
Inevitably, Betis heads dropped and United chests puffed out. Just six minutes later, things went from bad to worse as Fernandes had the freedom of the Stretford End to head home from a corner. It was a firm header, but it was directly at Bravo and the Chilean could have done better.
“It’s a major disappointment that the game was decided in five minutes” — Manuel Pellegrini on United’s second and third goals.
If he was perhaps at fault for that goal, he undoubtedly redeemed himself with a string of vital saves to keep the score down. It felt like Betis were capitulating, with every United attack like a red wave determined to sink Pellegrini’s men.
The fourth goal came late but it did not flatter United. Facundo Pellestri, once on loan at Alavés, had just come on as a substitute and created the opportunity. After an initial shot was saved, Weghorst pounced to score his first United goal at Old Trafford. The statistics illustrate the dominance United enjoyed, dominating the xG (2.97-0.48), shots (25-6) and shots on target (13-2). The second half battering in particular is clear and damning.
It was turning ugly, and not just on the pitch. In the away end tensions rose and police had to intervene to quell some disturbances.
In the post-match press conference, Pellegrini lamented the concession of the two goals in quick succession at the start of the second half, repeating that Antony’s goal precipitated the drop in confidence and thus performance. However, he refused to give up on the tie, saying that there are still 90 minutes to play in Seville, and anything is possible, in theory.
If Betis manage to salvage this tie, it might have to go down as the engineer’s greatest feat. Betis have never reached the quarter final of the UEFA Cup or Europa League and unfortunately that trend looks set to continue.