Marcus Rashford's goal made the difference for Man Utd in their win at Real Betis but Harry Maguire and David de Gea were also crucial.
Marcus Rashford put his name on the scoresheet but Harry Maguire and David de Gea were just as important to Manchester United earning a 1-0 victory (5-1 aggregate) in a cauldron of Real Betis noise.
Betis were far from discouraged from the three-goal deficit they were chasing from the first leg and caused Erik ten Hag's side a lot of problems, particularly in the first half. Veteran Joaquin got the better of a sluggish Casemiro and struck the outside of the post. Then, Juanmi burst through on goal against De Gea, but the Spaniard stood tall against his compatriot.
Rashford's goal tamed the home crowd and fully settled United down as the Red Devils comfortably booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
Manchester United have inflicted pain on La Liga this term. Ten Hag has now eliminated Barcelona and Betis back-to-back, and he also defeated Real Sociedad in the group stage after Sociedad had earned a controversial victory earlier in the round.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from the Estadio Benito Villamarin.
Getty ImagesWINNER: Harry Maguire
United's captain has been a figure of fun for a long time now and, in addition to being the butt of many jokes, he must find it so tough to watch so many games from the bench.
But he was in commanding form and rarely put a foot wrong.
He played with his head, making sure he was always in the right position and did not allow himself to be run ragged by Betis' speedy forwards Juanmi and Aitor Ruibal.
He made a super-brave block from a shot by Juanmi and was constantly cutting out dangerous passes.
This was a night to restore some pride.
AdvertisementLOSER: La Liga teams in Europe
Manchester United have come up against three La Liga teams in the Europa League this season and after six matches the balance reads four wins, one draw and one defeat.
They outplayed runaway league leaders Barcelona for much of their play-off tie and, aside from this testing first half in Seville, were pretty much dominant against Betis, who are fifth.
They did lose to Real Sociedad at Old Trafford and although they got their revenge in the away leg, they did ultimately finish second in their group to the Basques.
But overall, United have bossed Spanish counterparts in the competition.
And that is saying something, as United had been knocked out of Europe by Spanish sides in the previous five seasons. Sweet, sweet revenge.
In this form, they will be hoping to face Sevilla in the quarter-finals.
Getty ImagesWINNER: David de Gea
De Gea was one of the few United players who had performed badly in the first leg, and Ten Hag admitted after the 4-1 win that he could not ignore his goalkeeper's poor kicking.
But as he did against Southampton, De Gea was superb, stopping everything Betis threw at him.
He has often been treated unfairly by the Spanish press for his performances for the national team so he must be pleased with how he performed back in his homeland.
GettyLOSER: Juanmi
The forward had a lot of space to run into in the first half and could have made United pay.
But his finishing and final pass was poor, missing the chance to put his side in front.
Who knows what would have happened if Betis had struck first.
Their fans sounded like they felt a comeback was on and they will be asking themselves how differently the evening could have gone had Juanmi not spurned their best opportunities.