Europa League: Manchester United Outclass Real Betis, Arsenal Held by Sporting Lisbon
News 18Manchester United bounced back from a historic thrashing by Liverpool to beat Real Betis 4-1 in the first leg of their Europa League last 16 tie on Thursday, while a 2-2 draw away to Sporting Lisbon gave Arsenal work to do to reach the quarter-finals. “Considering you concede two goals away from home and still escape with a draw you have to take some positives,” said Arsenal boss Arteta. “But we gave them too much hope by giving the ball away in our own half too many times.” – Advantage to Italian giants – Juventus will take a narrow lead to Germany next week after the in-form Angel di Maria scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Freiburg. Six-time winners Sevilla may be fighting a relegation battle in La Liga, but are always a threat in the Europa League and will take a 2-0 first leg lead over Fenerbahce to Istanbul next week thanks to goals from Joan Jordan and Erik Lamela.