It was a scarcely believable night for Manchester United fans as Ruben Amorim’s side demolished Athletic Club 3-0 at their home ground in the Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday.
It was supposed to be a difficult encounter against the Basque side, who have conceded only 10 goals at the San Mames all season, while their attackers have run riot at times.
But Ruben Amorim’s side rode their luck in the first quarter of the game before exploding into life thanks to Harry Maguire, who was on fire, both as a centre-back and as a right winger.
The former club captain can do no wrong currently, as his quick feet and pinpoint cross led to the opening goal scored by Casemiro. Then skipper Bruno Fernandes got in on the act after the hosts were reduced to 10 men after a foul inside the box.
Maguire on nervous start
The Portuguese netted from the spot before a delicious dinked finish made matters sure on the stroke of half-time.
After the game, Maguire was asked by TNT Sports whether this was the perfect night for the club, and the Englishman pointed to how United stood firm under pressure initially and got their just rewards in the end.
“The first 20 minutes were difficult. The crowd was super loud and it was intense at times and they came at us. We made a few errors and we looked a little bit nervous.
“We weathered the storm and we were clinical in the first-half and it is great to go to Old Trafford with a three-goal lead.”
“It was nice to do a bit of dribbling out there.”
Harry Maguire reacts to 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 dribble and Man United's dominant performance in Bilbao ⚽
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Tie not done
The Red Devils came back from two goals down in the last seven minutes of their quarter-final tie against Olympique Lyonnais, so the 32-year-old knows nothing can be taken for granted at this stage.
The visitors also had chances to put the tie to bed but Casemiro and Noussair Mazraoui both struck the post as United failed to add to their three first-half goals.
“The tie is not done. We will be focused for the second leg and I’m sure Old Trafford will be like this place.
“We had chances to get the fourth and maybe we could have played at a higher tempo. Maybe we played it a little bit too safe. Another big game next week coming up for us, yes it’s a great start, we can’t hide away from that.
Skills on show
“All the pressure will be on us as everyone will expect us to go through to the final. We will prepare well like we did for tonight. One foot in the final but it’s still not done.”
The England international was obviously asked about his dribbling out on the right wing and it was clear to see that he enjoyed his attacking foray out wide.
“It was nice to do a bit of dribbling out there. I saw there were plenty of players inside the box and they were trusting me to get a good cross in. It was a nice feeling. Casemiro put the ball in the back of the net and it was a great header in the end.”
Hopefully, the players can avoid a calamitous meltdown and return to the cathedral for the final on May 21.
Feature image Clive Brunskill via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
