A low-key start from both sides saw little in the way of goalmouth action in the opening 15 minutes.
Antony’s sumptuous outside-of-the-boot pass just fell short of reaching Cedric Bakambu as Betis threatened, and Sergi Altimira’s long-range effort caused all sorts of problems for Dinamo keeper Ivan Filipovic.
However, the hosts’ 4-5-1 formation kept chances at a minimum for the visitors, and when Dinamo broke forward on the counter, Dejan Ljubicic and Fran Topic were willing runners down the flanks.
Filipovic was soon at full stretch to palm Abde Ezzalzouli’s fizzing effort away from danger, and two minutes later he was beaten after Sergi Dominguez could only turn Rodrigo Riquelme’s hopeful cross into his own net.
In Betis’ very next attack, Riquelme connected with Bakambu’s beautifully weighted pass and sat Filipovic down as he scored the visitors’ second, and within four minutes, it was three after the Zagreb stopper went walkabout outside of his area, leaving Antony with an empty net to chip into.
Dinamo were much more purposeful after the break, at least in the early stages, with 17-year-old substitute Cardoso Varela heavily involved down Betis’ right-hand side.
The Spaniards were worked more in the first 10 minutes of the second half than in all of the first, but remained a threat.
Ezzalzouli’s effort approaching the hour mark almost looped via a deflection, whilst the final action of Dinamo captain Josip Misic’s evening was his stinging long-range effort that flew just wide.
As the game reached the final stages, the hosts had a couple of half-chances, but both teams’ attacking intent slowed significantly.
In the 89th minute, Niko Galesic grabbed a scarcely deserved consolation for Dinamo, who have now picked up just one point from their last four UEL matches.
By contrast, Real Betis have created club history with their eighth unbeaten game in succession in Europe (W5, D3).
Flashscore Man of the Match: Rodrigo Riquelme (Real Betis)
Check out the match summary with Flashscore.
