Athletic Club 0-3 Manchester United: Red Devils stun ten-men Athletic to put one foot in Europa League final | OneFootball

Manchester United claimed a comfortable 0-3 win at San Mamés in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League semi-final against Athletic Bilbao, with the Zurigorri reduced to ten men in the first half.

Casemiro’s opener was soon followed by a lengthy VAR check that saw Dani Vivian dismissed for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity inside the box, with Bruno Fernandes comfortably powering the resulting penalty past Julian Agirrezabala.

The Portuguese midfielder bagged his second goal of the evening on the stroke of half time, picking out the bottom corner from inside the box to give the Red Devils a sizeable advantage ahead of next week’s second leg at Old Trafford.

As it happened

A raucous crowd at la Catedral on Thursday quickly fell silent when, with just five minutes on the clock, Manchester United looked to have slotted home the opener. Alejandro Garnacho hadn’t timed his run well, though, with the linesman quickly flagging the Argentine offside and VAR upholding the decision.

Athletic Club looked to pounce and twice came close to the first goal of the evening when Yuri Berenguer’s strike from the edge of the box forced a fine save from André Onana, with Iñaki Williams nodding a cross from the midfielder over the bar mere moments later.

They were missed opportunities that would swiftly come back to bite the Zurigorri. With thirty minutes elapsed in the Basque Country, Harry Maguire’s mesmerising control of the ball on the right flank opened up space for a cross into the area that was flicked towards the far post by Manuel Ugarte; Casemiro arrived at the scene to power a close-range header past the Athletic goalkeeper.

United’s away support had barely settled before Ruben Amorim’s Red Devils were gifted an excellent chance to double their lead. Noussair Mazraoui’s cross looked certain to be poked home by Rasmus Højlund, though the forward was held back by Dani Vivian who was dismissed after a lengthy VAR check found him guilty of denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. Bruno Fernandes made no mistake with the spot-kick, rolling it low into the corner after a stuttered run-up.

(Photo by Juanma – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

There’d still be time for more action in a simply incredulous first half in Bilbao. On the stroke of half-time, Fernandes doubled his personal tally from ten yards out after a creative assist from Ugarte – and United looked to be cruising towards a dominant victory.

But Athletic Club’s appeals for a penalty just before the hour mark looked to provide hope for the Basque hosts, when Maroan Sannadi was felled by Maguire. The fans were hopeful for a red card, though the referee did not brandish one and VAR concurred with his decision.

It was, in truth, a rare foray forward from the Zurigorri, who could have fallen further behind when two chances in quick succession saw Casemiro denied by Agirrezabala just seconds before the Brazilian struck the post with a headed effort from a corner. Bruno Fernandes could have completed his hat trick and Garnacho could have netted his first of the night inside the final ten minutes, but the Basque shotstopper produced fine saves.

Athletic Club will need a miracle at Old Trafford next Thursday if they’re to overturn the deficit and play one more UEFA Europa League match at San Mamés this season. Their home ground will host the final on May 21.

The lineups

ATH: Agirrezabala; Berchiche, Alvarez, Vivian, De Marcos; Jauregizar, Galarreta; N Williams, Berenguer, I Williams; Sannadi