Three first-half goals helped Manchester United put themselves on the cusp of the Europa League final on Thursday, with the Premier League side earning a 3-0 semi-final first leg win away at Athletic Bilbao.

In a raucous San Memes atmosphere, with supporters dreaming of a first-ever European trophy, veteran midfielder Casemiro arrived at the back post to give the visitors the lead 30 minutes in.

United, who are having a miserable season domestically, were given another boost five minutes later as Bilbao defender Daniel Vivian was sent off for fouling Rasmus Hojlund in the penalty area, and Bruno Fernandes converted the resulting spot kick.

The United fans high in the top tier were in dreamland moments later as captain Fernandes raced through to put the seal on a victory, and perhaps even the tie, before the interval.

Bilbao, who have the added incentive that the final will be hosted at their own stadium on May 21, could not muster a response in the second half with depleted numbers, leaving United to coast to the most unlikely first-leg success.

“Of course it’s a great start, to get a victory here and score three goals and with a clean sheet,” United defender Harry Maguire told TNT Sports.

“All the pressure will be on us, everyone will be expecting us to go through. We need to prepare properly, and if we do that, we’ll give ourselves a great chance.

“One foot in the final, but it’s not done.”

The Europa League has been somewhat of a haven for United this term, where they can forget the fact that they are on course for their worst-ever Premier League points haul this term.

United travelled to Bilbao as the only unbeaten team in any European competition, but were up against their toughest challenge yet, with Bilbao sitting fourth in LaLiga, possessing the meanest defence in the division.

The Bilbao players fed off the crowd’s energy early on, creating the better of the initial chances. Inaki Williams should have scored from a close-range header, while Victor Lindelof came to United’s rescue with a timely block on the line.

Casemiro, however, arrived right on cue to swing the momentum in United’s favour. Norwegian referee Espen Eskas, after consulting the pitch-side monitor, adjudged that Vivian had denied Hojlund a clear goalscoring opportunity and thus branded a red card and pointed to the spot.

The composure shown by Bruno Fernandes as he calmly stroked home the penalty, despite the ear-splitting whistles from the cantankerous crowd, was astounding. The whistles had barely died down when the United skipper raced onto Manuel Ugarte’s flick to add a game-clinching third.

To highlight the contrast between United’s domestic and continental campaigns, they have now scored more goals in their seven Europa League games in 2025 than they have in their 15 Premier League games this calendar year.

They have also won more games in the Europa League since Ruben Amorim took over as coach than they have in the Premier League.

Casemiro could have even added a fourth but saw his second-half header come out off the post.

The job, however, was done. United’s success means 133 teams have won the first leg of a UEFA Cup or Europa League knockout stage tie by three or more goals away from home, and all 133 have won the tie.

“The penalty and the red card conditioned the game. At 11 against 11, we were doing well,” said Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde. “The penalty and the red card were too great a punishment.

“It’s very clear we have taken a very bad result into the second game, but we have to play it. We are not giving up. We know it’s an adverse situation and who we have in front of us.”

-Reuters

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Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim admitted it is hard to explain how his team are enjoying such differing seasons domestically and in European competition, following the Premier League strugglers’ 3-0 win at Athletico Bilbao on Thursday.

United’s Europa League semi-final first leg victory in the Basque Country ensured they remain the only team unbeaten in European competition this season, in contrast to the fact that they are on course for a worst-ever Premier League points haul.

“It’s hard to explain,” Amorim said. “We have improved in the last games. I don’t look just at the results. We had some games that we won that we didn’t play well, and some games that we lost, but we played well. Sometimes you just need a little bit of luck.

Europa League – Semi Final – First Leg – Athletic Bilbao v Manchester United – San Mames, Bilbao, Spain – May 1, 2025 Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim REUTERS/Vincent West

“We can win this competition, and in the Premier League, we are just suffering game after game and trying to manage both things with some injuries. Sometimes it’s harder even for the players.

“I know that is hard to understand, but sometimes it’s the context, it’s the way we see things.”

Amorim was at pains to point out that United’s Europa League final spot is not secured, despite three first-half goals giving the visitors a healthy advantage going into next week’s second leg in Manchester.

After their surprisingly comprehensive success, 133 teams have won the first leg of a UEFA Cup or Europa League knockout stage tie by three or more goals away from home, and all 133 have won the tie.

“I think they have to think about the second leg,” Amorim added. “And they have to think more about the first 20 minutes than the rest of the game because the game is going to be tough.

“There is no away goals so anything can change, and that is my message to the players, and we have to think now about Brentford (at the weekend) and then the second leg.”

-Reuters

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Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim defended under-fire goalkeeper Andre Onana following the Cameroonian’s costly mistakes in his side’s 2-2 draw at Olympique Lyonnais in their Europa League quarter-final first leg on Thursday.

Onana allowed Thiago Almada’s free kick to squirm past him in the Groupama Stadium and was also at fault for Rayan Cherki’s last-gasp equaliser that denied United victory.

Since the start of last season, no Premier League club’s goalkeeper has made more errors leading to goals being conceded in all competitions than Onana.

“It can happen, if you play football, you play a lot of games, you can make mistakes,” Amorim said. “If you look at the season, I make more mistakes than them during these last games and these last months.

“The other thing is we have one more game to change everything and that should be our focus.

“The best thing is to look at the goals, all the actions that Andre had in the game, this is the best way to help any player, it’s to focus on the game, what happened, what we need to improve.”

United nonetheless remain unbeaten in this season’s Europa League — the only side to do so this term — after goals from Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee put them on course for a potential victory.

The team, who are 13th in the English Premier League standings, still go into next week’s second leg in Manchester as favourites to book a spot in the last four.

“It was an entertaining game,” Amorim added. “We had some difficulty in the first half trying to press, because Lyon played in a different way. Then, in the middle of the first half and especially the second, we controlled the game.

“The second leg will be a different game. At home, our fans want us to press all the time.”

-Reuters

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