Pellistri was involved in the first action of the evening, charging down the right after a few seconds, only to overhit his cross slightly and see it drift beyond the far post. It was a show of intent, though, as he looked to position himself very wide, hugging the touchline like an old-fashioned winger, but his next attempt at a run ended with him being crowded out.
There could have been a glorious opportunity for the South American when Marcus Rashford overhit a through pass, as he streaked in behind the defence, but some of his work was less heralded, completing a couple of simple passes to Bruno Fernandes, one despite being barged in the back. An example of his defensive nous was provided when he robbed Aitor Ruibal to nudge the ball back to Tyrell Malacia and, as the home side started to get on top, he appeared to move inside more often, again finding Fernandes on a couple of occasions, the second of which led to a chance that Rashford chested goalwards from an offside position.
After he latched onto a Casemiro pass, he was held up by Edgar Gonzalez and the youngster then slipped as he attempted a pass to Wout Weghorst, and then saw another ball cut out when looking for a one-two. There was incredulity when he did well to combine with Fred but slipped and, despite clearly kicking the ball clear, was booked for catching Guido Rodriguez, surely only because of the complaints from the Betis players.
Much of his probing was intricate, trying for neat, swift passes on the edge of the box, and one cross was cut out at the near post comfortably by keeper Rui Silva, with the flag up again in any case. After being outmuscled, and not earning a foul, when latching on to a Harry Maguire header out, he was unable to reach a swerved pass by Fernandes but he regained his momentum.
Keeping possession wisely, when feeding Casemiro, he was awarded a free-kick when Bruno hooked the ball to him, and then did well to complete a one-two with Casemiro and won the ball back to keep it in our hands by finding Fernandes. The key moment for Facundo came in the second minute of stoppage time in the first half. A Fernandes free-kick fell to him and he did well to catch it on the bounce but the ball hit the inside of a post, with Weghorst unable to get a touch to divert it home.