Ten Hag Defends Bruno Fernandes After Bad Tackle on Bravo Against Real Betis

• Manchester United beat Real Betis 4-1 in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16
• Fernandes retained captaincy despite his antics in the 7-0 loss to Liverpool at the weekend
• He was on the scoresheet against Betis but some fans feel like he should have been sent off

Manchester United bounced back from their embarrassing 7-0 loss to Liverpool at the weekend by beating Real Betis 4-1 in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League round of 16.

Marcus Rashford, Antony, Bruno Fernandes and Wout Weghorst were all on the scoresheet for the Red Devils, and a former Premier League star Ayoze Perez got the only goal for the Spanish team.

Fernandes, who retained his captaincy after his antics against Liverpool, got fans talking after he escaped with only a yellow card after a horror tackle on former Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.

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The Portuguese went in with a two-foot lunge at the Chilean goalkeeper, who got to the ball first but then got caught on the shin by the United captain. The referee immediately issued a yellow card, as reported by Sun UK.

Ten Hag defends Fernandes

United boss Erik Ten Hag defended his captain for the bad tackle during his post-match conference with BT Sport, which Manchester Evening News quoted.

''It's his strength and his passion, but you are right. Sometimes he has to control that, and he has to bring it. It is his strength, and when it's too much, it becomes a weakness. That's true, and he knows that, and there are always small margins,'' he said.

The former Ajax boss also praised how his captain adapted to his role change and felt he was the best player on the pitch.

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''I think he was the best player on the pitch. It shows his personality. He played a little deeper role tonight, I asked him to do, and I think he was brilliant,'' he added.

Ten Hag instructs players to score more goals

Sports Brief earlier reported that United boss Erik Ten Hag appeared to tell his players to score more goals despite being 4-1 up against Real Betis.

The Dutch manager named an unchanged XI after the loss to Liverpool. While his team were four goals up, he made a gesture with three fingers which fans interpreted meant he wanted three more goals.

The former Ajax boss ended United's trophy drought by winning the Carabao Cup and currently has the team on 21 home games unbeaten run.