Pundits agreed with the referee's decision to only show Bruno Fernandes a yellow card for his lunge on Real Betis keeper Claudio Bravo, although Paul Scholes did label the challenge 'stupid'.
The Manchester United star was only booked after a VAR check as he appeared to turn his foot away from Bravo before making contact with the former Barcelona man.
It was the only real poor moment on an otherwise excellent evening for Fernandes, who bounced back from the weekend's 7-0 loss to Liverpool by picking up a goal and assist in the 4-1 Europa League win.
Owe Hargreaves felt the aggression from Fernandes may have been an over-adjustment after United's torrid display at Anfield.
He said of the challenge on BT Sport: 'It's not a red but it was a yellow. I think obviously what happened is they had a team meeting where they showed them not tracking back and not tackling.
'So you've got it in your head you are going to press and tackle and that's what they did today. But it's not a red.
Paul Scholes agreed the lunge was not a red card offence as he had made contact with the 'side of his foot' rather than the studs, but still felt it was a poor decision from Fernandes.
'It was just a bit stupid really' he said, 'they were up in the game. It was a little bit of risk and gamble he didn't need to take.'
Despite the pundits agreeing the referee had made the right call, there were fans on Twitter who felt he should have been sent off.
One labelled the 28-year-old a 'lucky boy', while others felt the challenge was a 'red card all day long'.
There was also a feeling that the challenge received lenient treatment 'because it's Bruno.'
Aside from the midfielder's late challenge, United enjoyed an excellent bounce back on Thursday after suffering their heaviest loss since 1931 in the previous outing.
Goals from Fernandes, Antony, Marcus Rashford and Wout Weghorst have given the club an excellent chance of reaching the quarter finals, and they are among the favorites to win the tournament, as they did under Jose Mourinho in 2017.
United will next be in action when they face Southampton in the league on Sunday.