Manchester United's first-half brilliance secures victory in Bilbao

Peter Hall, BILBAO, Spain – 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 safe haven for United this term, where they can forget the fact 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 Vivian had denied Hojlund a clear goalscoring opportunity and thus branded a red card and pointed to the spot.

The composure showed 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 was 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