Key events
90 min +3: Elanga attempts a spectacular volley from 25 yards. It flies 25 yards over the bar.
90 min +2: It’s the United fans you can hear now. John Denver fans one and all.
90 min +1: Sabaly strides down the right and crosses low for Iglesias, who should get a shot away but hesitates and is eventually stripped of possession. Fair to say that none of the Betis subs, Miranda apart, have made any sort of impact.
90 min: There will be three additional minutes.
89 min: Only now do a few of the Betis fans leave. What a noise they created during that wildly entertaining first half.
88 min: Nope. United half clear. Pezzella tries to fire back through a crowded box, but doesn’t catch his shot properly and United clear up properly this time.
87 min: Canales is bowled over by Dalot out on the left. A free kick just to the side of the United box. Canales to take. Consolation time?
86 min: Canales goes on a sensational burst down the right wing, from his own half to the United box. He fires in a low cross for Juanmi, free on the penalty spot. A fine goal looks on the cards, but Juanmi takes a heavy touch in attempting to trap, and the moment is gone.
84 min: Carvalho has the chance of releasing Iglesias down the middle, but his attempted long pass pings off the nearest United player.
82 min: Miranda reaches the byline down the left and crosses in the hope of finding Juanmi in the middle, six yards out. But he gives the cross too much oomph, and Juanmi doesn’t have a hope of meeting it. Sighs of frustration from the home support. They’d like to see their team grab a consolation. Their efforts certainly deserve a goal.
80 min: Pellistri sends Sancho clear with a fine first-time ball down the right. Sancho reaches the edge of the box and should square the ball for Elanga to tap home, but opts to slam past the keeper instead. Rui Silva stays big to block, then the flag goes up for offside. Even so, that was poor from Sancho, and Elanga is within his rights to give him the earful he’s getting.
79 min: Guardado slides a pass down the left for Miranda, whose cross is forced out by Maguire. Pezzella meets the set piece with a header that harmlessly sails over the crossbar.
78 min: Speaking of Rashford, here’s David Wall: “It must be a great example for Sancho after his struggles this season to see a fantastic example of how it can turn around quite quickly for a player, from the real doldrums to the best form of their life.”
77 min: The Betis fans have been quiet since Rashford’s goal, but now they haul themselves up for one last hurrah. Songs of defiance ring around the Benito Villamarín.
75 min: Lindelof and Dalot come on for Martinez and Wan-Bissaka.
74 min: Sabitzer tries to release Elanga down the left but blooters into the stand. Nothing matters tonight now.
72 min: Canales allows the ball to roll under his foot and out of play for a throw. United appear – clearly and understandably – more up for these final exchanges than the hosts.
71 min: Miranda tries to make good down the left but is denied by Wan-Bissaka, who earns a slap of approval from Casemiro for his efforts.
70 min: Sancho cushions a long ball down the left into the path of Weghorst, who bobbles a shot straight at Rui Silva.
69 min: That means Fernandes has avoided the booking that would have seen him miss the first leg of the quarter final. Casemiro is still walking that particular tightrope.
68 min: Sancho, Fernandes and Sabitzer nearly open Betis up down the left with some cute triangles. Sabitzer is caught offside, though, and up goes the flag. That’s the end of the evening for Fernandes, who is replaced by Elanga.
66 min: Rodríguez is replaced by Guardado.
65 min: Fernandes glides down the left and rolls a ball into the box for Sabitzer, whose first-time low drive is kicked clear by Rui Silva.
64 min: Sancho jinks into the Betis box from the left and scuffs a shot. It’s deflected, but he doesn’t get the corner he’s earned.
63 min: Miranda pulls Pellistri back, a full handful of shirt. Surely a booking, but the referee’s not interested. The state of this tie may have influenced that decision.
62 min: The air out of the Betis balloon now, United may be able to fill their boots. A corner on the left. Fernandes loops to the near post, where Maguire powers a header wide.
60 min: United respond by switching out Rashford and Fred for Sabitzer and Sancho.
59 min: Iglesias, Canales and Jose come on for Joaquin, Perez and Ruibal. Nothing comes of the corner.
58 min: Miranda slips Rodriguez into the United box down the left. Rodriguez wins a corner. Before it can be taken, on come the subs.
GOAL! Real Betis 0-1 Manchester United (Rashford 56); agg 1-5
Casemiro finds Rashford 25 yards out, just left of centre. Rashford swings, sending a shot into the bottom right with the outside of his boot, the ball swerving away from Rui Silva’s desperate fingers. What a finish! From the ridiculous to the sublime!
55 min: This is getting absurd now. Rashford breaks into the box down the middle. He’s surely got to score … but in going for power, he slices a wild effort miles over the bar! What a miss! But it doesn’t matter, because …
54 min: Perez wins a corner down the left. The corner’s delivered to the near post, where Perez flashes a header goalwards. De Gea, his reflexes in good nick, punches clear. How on earth is this still 0-0?
53 min: United launch a three-on-two break. Pellistri and Fernandes combine, and the ball’s fed left to Rashford, who enters the box one on one with Rui Silva. He aims a fizzer towards the bottom right only for Rui Silva to block magnificently. What a save!
52 min: Fred lashes over from distance.
51 min: Pellistri nutmegs Gonzalez down the right and skitters into the box. Miranda comes across to put a stop to his gallop just before he can shoot. That was very nearly something special.
50 min: Rashford makes good down the inside-left channel and tries to release Weghorst. The pass pings back to him so he takes a shot instead. Over.
49 min: Ruibal drags a speculative shot miles left of goal.
48 min: Miranda set that chance up with a fine dribble down the left. And he goes on another here, before standing one up to nobody in particular.
46 min: Within 30 seconds of the restart, Joaquin runs into a pocket of space in front of the United box. He could release Perez to his right, but opts for the shot instead. He curls towards the top right but sends the effort way too high. A very decent chance to give Betis the fast start they need if they’re to launch any sort of comeback.
United get the ball rolling for the second half. No changes.
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HALF TIME: Real Betis 0-0 Manchester United (agg: 1-4)
How on earth is this goalless? United won’t care too much; they remain three goals up and are now 45 minutes closer to the quarters. It’s been great fun.
45 min +2: Fernandes swings the resulting free kick into the mixer, and United nearly score. United should have scored. The ball drops to Pellistri, who swivels and whips a shot towards the bottom left. Weghorst extends a leg hoping to poke home from a yard out. He misses. The ball comes off the post, Rui Silva fingertips it off the line, and Rodriguez hammers clear! What an end to the half that would have been.
45 min +1: Casemiro drives down the left only to be flipped into the air like an old sock by Joaquin. No booking for the Betis captain. Pellistri must wonder what he’s done wrong.
45 min: Rashford cuts in from the left and tries to work some shooting space, only to become indecisive at the crucial moment. He’s crowded out.
43 min: Juanmi has a bash from the edge of the box. Maguire bravely throws himself in front of the ball to block. That shot was shifting.
42 min: De Gea takes his sweet time over a restart, much to the crowd’s pantomime displeasure.
41 min: Joaquin swings it in. United half clear. Juanmi tries to make space to shoot on the edge of the box, but is eventually crowded out.
40 min: Betis probe at speed, this way and that. Malacia suffers a rush of blood and clatters Ruibal, 30 yards out on the right. A free kick in a dangerous position.
38 min: Ruibal sashays in from the right and into a pocket of space. He can’t decide whether to cross towards Perez or aim for the top-left corner, so manages to do neither. Goal kick.
37 min: Fernandes slips a pass down the right to release Pellistri into space in the Betis box. The debutant whips a cross to the near stick. Rui Silva gets in ahead of Weghorst to claim.
35 min: Rashford and Pezzella rut like stags near the corner flag over bugger all. The referee comes across and tells them both to act their age. To be fair, it all blows over quickly, and Rashford walks away smiling.
34 min: Ruibal goes down theatrically after Malacia slides in on him. It was a foul, and possibly a booking, but the over-the-top response might have tested the referee’s patience and saved Malacia there. There was certainly more reason to book Malacia than Pellistri, put it that way.
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