it was decided in five minutes'-Real Betis Manuel Pellegrini makes Man United's admission

It wasn't business as usual for Manuel Pellegrini when he returned to Old Trafford with his Real Betis side on Thursday night for the first leg of the Europa League clash with Manchester United.

 

The Italian is renowned for always inflicting defeats on Manchester United while he was manager of domestic rival Manchester City. Manuel Pellegrini lost just three of his last 15 encounters with Manchester United, but he was blown away by the Red Devils' display on Thursday night.

 

Erik Ten Hag's side handed him a 4-1 loss, the heaviest defeat he has faced when he played against Manchester United. Speaking after the game, Manuel Pellegrini claimed his side were lucky to have conceded just four goals and empahsized that Manchester United were far superior to his team.

 

"A great goal from Antony and another from a corner ended the game," he told AS at fulltime.

 

“Manchester United played with the confidence of having many goals ahead, and from then until the end of the game, they were far superior to us." "There could be some more goals even."

 

“They got a very important difference, and it was decided in five minutes.”

 

Manuel Pellegrini was on point with his comments, as statistics show that Manchester United wasted chances against the Spanish side. The team attempted a total of 25 shots, and 13 of those were on target. Real Betis only managed six shots, of which two were on target. They dominated the game with 54% ball possession and over 400 passes.

 

Marcus Rashford opened the scoring in the sixth minute, but Man United didn't build on that momentum as the visitors equalized after a quick breakaway. Ayoze Pérez's stunner brought them level.

 

Antony Santos' curler gave the hosts the lead again in the second half, and Bruno Fernandes headed in a Luke Shaw cross to ensure they kept the game out of Real Betis' grip. Wout Weghorst added the fourth as Manuel Pellegrini and his team left Manchester with their hopes of progressing dented.

 

However, Manuel Pellegrini is certain that the tie is far from over and claimed his side will try to turn the deficit when they host the replay of the tie in Spain next Thursday night.

 

"We’re going to try; let there be no doubt about it," he told AS.