Athletic Club 0-3 Manchester United: Brilliant Bruno Fernandes inspires emphatic first-leg win

Manchester United earned an emphatic victory away against the ten men of Athletic Club in Bilbao, leaving them well-placed to seal a UEFA Europa League final place at Old Trafford next Thursday.

Match in brief: Rampant Red Devils do first-half damage

Despite the final scoreline Athletic Club made a confident start, Iñaki Williams heading over and Alex Berenguer denied by a crucial Victor Lindelöf block.

But even in these more positive early exchanges, Manchester United showed the clinical edge which would power them to victory, Alejandro Garnacho running through and finishing confidently before being flagged for offside.

The Manchester United players celebrate victory in BilbaoGetty Images

The visitors took the lead in the 30th minute when Harry Maguire, not far removed from his heroic cameo as a striker in the semi-final, collected the ball on the right wing and weaved past his marker to curl in the cross which Manuel Ugarte flicked on at the near post and Casemiro headed in at the far post.

Things went from bad to worse for Athletic Club minutes later when centre-back Daniel Vivian was sent off for a foul on Rasmus Højlund before Fernandes calmly dispatched the resulting penalty.

Casemiro heads in the Man Utd openerUEFA via Getty Images

The introduction of two defenders from the bench signalled Ernesto Valverde's desire to consolidate, but Athletic Club did not reach half-time before Fernandes struck his second and his side's third. Running on to Ugarte's crafty back-heeled pass, the United captain curled another confident finish into the far corner.

Ruben Amorim's men did well to manage the second half, limiting Athletic Club to a minimum of chances, while coming close through Casemiro. United were further boosted by Amad Diallo's return from the bench, the forward having been absent since February due to injury.

Bruno Fernandes finished with characteristic composureAFP via Getty Images

Andrea De Ferrater, reporting from Estadio de San Mamés

United get the job done – and in some style – at a stadium where no one had managed to win until now in this Europa League season. The result puts them in a commanding position ahead of the return leg at home, but Athletic Club will fight until the very end at a ground where they already know what it means to win.

Reaction

Ruben Amorim, Man Utd coach, to TNT Sports: "We have an advantage and we have our fans, but again this could change. Anything can happen in one game. Experience in the squad? You can feel it, especially in the beginning. It's a semi-final, so these kind of players, like Casemiro, Harry [Maguire] and Bruno Fernandes help us a lot."

Ernesto Valverde, Athletic Club coach: "We didn’t manage the first goal, that tension. When you lose 3-0, it means they were clinical, and we weren’t in the chances we had. Teams like United don’t forgive, they are very solid in the final third. We need to learn from these kinds of things."

Ruben Amorim addresses the media after the gameUEFA via Getty Images

Harry Maguire, Man Utd defender, to TNT Sports: "The first twenty minutes was difficult, the crowd was really loud and the intensity was very high. We weathered the storm and we knew we'd get our chances and we were really clinical in that first half."

Yeray Álvarez, Athletic Club defender: "It's been a hard blow, we came in with spirits high. But we still have 90 minutes left, we have confidence, and we need to go there to make the comeback and try to turn it around. The word 'confidence' is what we need to focus on, and go there with the greatest of hopes."

Key stats

• Manchester United are unbeaten in all 13 of their Europa League games this season (W8 D5).
• Bruno Fernandes is now the joint-third highest scorer in Europa League history with 27 goals. He is level with Romelu Lukaku and behind only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (34) and Radamel Falcao (30) .
• The Portuguese international is also the joint top-scorer in this season's Europa League with seven goals.
• United have lost only one of their last ten matches against Spanish opposition (W6 D3).
• Only one of United's last 64 European games has finished scoreless.

Line-ups

Athletic Club: Agirrezabala; De Marcos (Gorosabel 42), Vivian, Yeray Álvarez, Berchiche; Ruiz De Galarreta (Prados 42), Jaureguizar; I. Williams (Álvaro Djaló 89), Berenguer (Paredes 42), N. Williams (Gomez 79); Sannadi

Man Utd: Onana; Yoro, Maguire (De Ligt 65), Lindelöf; Mazraoui (Shaw 74), Ugarte (Mount 65), Casemiro, Dorgu (Diallo 84); Fernandes, Højlund, Garnacho (Mainoo 84)