Bruno Fernandes hopes late goal at Bournemouth gives Rasmus Hojlund confidence | OneFootball

Bruno Fernandes hopes striker Rasmus Hojlund takes confidence from only his fourth Premier League goal of the season as Manchester United target two trips to Bilbao.

Hojlund posted “we wanted the win, but I needed that” on Instagram after pouncing in the sixth minute of added time to salvage a 1-1 draw at 10-man Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon.

The 22-year-old has struggled to find the net regularly since moving to Old Trafford from Atalanta for an initial £64million fee in the summer of 2023.

United’s dismal campaign – their worst in the Premier League – is being kept alive by participation in the Europa League – a competition Hojlund has scored five times in.

Ruben Amorim’s men travel to Athletic Bilbao on Thursday for the first leg of their semi-final and, with the May 21 final also being staged at San Mames Stadium, are bidding to book a return visit to the Basque city.

“He knows the responsibility of being the number nine of United and he has to score goals, that’s the demand of a club like this, not only for him, but for everyone else,” captain Fernandes said of Hojlund, speaking to MUTV.

“Everyone that plays here who has the qualities to get into the box to score goals has to do it.

“Everyone is very happy to see a striker scoring and hopefully it’s going to give him a little bit of a push for what’s coming.

“Obviously now we have to start recovering, focus on what we have to do against Athletic.

“It’s going to be a very tough game, we know that they play at home, they will play the final at home if they beat us.

“For us, it’s giving the chance to our fans to travel two times to Bilbao.”

Denmark international Hojlund prevented a galling day for United fans, during which Liverpool were crowned Premier League champions and Manchester City reached the FA Cup final, feeling even more dispiriting with his last-gasp leveller at the Vitality Stadium.

Amorim’s 14th-placed side looked set to slip to a 16th top-flight defeat this term following Antoine Semenyo’s first-half strike but Evanilson’s 70th-minute red card shifted the momentum in the visitors’ favour.

Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola admits his team now face a tough task to secure European qualification for the first time.

The agonising equaliser left the Cherries in 10th position – a point below both Fulham and Brighton, who each scored added-time winners on Saturday.

“Now it doesn’t matter how well or how bad you play, now you need the points,” said Iraola, whose side take on Arsenal, Aston Villa, Manchester City and relegated Leicester during the next month.

“Instead of being eighth, we are 10th, we have a difficult schedule. It puts us in a much more difficult place.

“But we have to fight until the end and we want to arrive to the last game with chances. For this, we will have to get a result against teams that are very good.

“The home games especially are key because away we have City and Arsenal.”

Bournemouth’s owners Black Knight Football Club (BKFC) has announced a partnership with MLS side Orlando City.

BKFC’s multi-club ownership strategy includes Bournemouth, Auckland (New Zealand), Lorient (France) and Hibernian (Scotland), as well as having a similar strategic partnership with Kyoto Sanga (Japan).