Facundo Pellistri had to wait a long time to make his full Manchester United debut, but he grabbed his opportunity when it finally came against Real Betis on Thursday night.
Pellistri joined the club in a £7.65million transfer from Uruguayan side Penarol in October 2020. The 21-year-old winger spent time on loan with Spanish side Alaves and, after playing in all three World Cup games for Uruguay, his patience is now being rewarded.
His eighth appearance of the season was his first start as Erik ten Hag used United’s 4-1 lead from the first leg to give the youngster a chance. Pellistri was bright throughout the 1-0 win in Seville on Thursday as United eased into the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
He was heavily involved in the first half and nearly grabbed his first goal for the club when he struck the post before the break. Ten Hag made all five of his substitutions, but Pellistri lasted the whole game in a show of faith.
“For Facundo, it is great to come in. He had some good comings,” Ten Hag told BT Sport. “He has good performances in training but a game is different. In a start he has to come in, but you saw after some minutes he got belief and had some really good actions. Defending, he did his job. I am really pleased with his performance.”
Pellistri appears to have overtaken Anthony Elanga in the pecking order under Ten Hag and he could have more opportunities on the horizon. Alejandro Garnacho has been ruled out for several weeks with an ankle ligament injury, while Antony missed the Betis game through illness.
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Former United midfielder Paul Scholes believes the Uruguayan can offer the side a point of difference. “I thought he did alright. He’s not played a lot of football but I thought he was quite lively going on the outside,” he said on BT Sport. “A few early crosses I think he overhit possibly, but the team were a little bit like that, to be fair.
“But he was a real threat. I thought he was the one looking to create and be dangerous, hit the post, was a bit unlucky and it would have been nice for him to get his goal there. He’s very direct, I don’t think you’ll see any fancy stuff from him. He will be direct, go towards goal and try and cross the balls for forwards in the box, and get shots on goal. I thought overall he was alright.
He added: “He’s rapid. I think that could be his biggest strength. He’s going to be an asset now with Garnacho being out, Antony is ill – how long he’s going to be out, I don’t know. He [Pellistri] could be a real asset and not just from the bench. For his first full start, I thought he did very well.”
