Manchester United scored three first-half goals as they comfortably beat Athletic Bilbao in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final – and Rasmus Hojlund caught the eye
Ruben Amorim singled out Rasmus Hojlund for praise after Manchester United’s statement 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao. United have one foot in the Europa League final after claiming a huge victory in Spain on Thursday night.
Casemirp headed in the opener following a cross from a fleet-footed Harry Maguire before Hojlund helped change the game in United’s favour. United’s centre-forward was pulled back by Dani Vivian, who was sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity after a VAR review, with Bruno Fernandes slotting the resulting penalty away.
Fernandes added a third before half-time with another cool finish to put the away side in complete control. Noussair Mazraoui crashed a shot against the bar, but the three-goal cushion gives Ruben Amorim’s side a commanding lead ahead of the second leg at Old Trafford next week.
Hojlund has struggled this season, returning just nine goals and four assists in 47 appearances, but Amorim was happy with his contribution in the San Mames. “I think it was the best game that he had with me as a coach,” Amorim said. “He helped the team a lot, he secured the ball and then made the runs, he decided quite well.
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“It is a good moment for him but, like Harry (Maguire), he needs to understand that everything can change. So let’s focus on the next one. This is in the past. We have a tough job to do on Sunday and on Thursday.”
Like fellow low-scoring striker Joshua Zirkzee, Hojlund has attracted plenty of criticism this season. He netted a dramatic late equaliser in the 1-1 draw at Bournemouth on Sunday, but his second goal in four months didn’t prevent a little dig from his captain.
“Strikers are about scoring goals and we all know that, he knows the responsibility of being the No.9 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,” Fernandes told MUTV afterwards.
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“Everyone that plays here who has the qualities to get into the box to score goals has to do it. Today, it was Rasmus, and 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.”
Speaking in Bilbao, Amorim stressed that the job is only half done. “The players have to think about the second leg, and more about the first 20 minutes than the rest of the game,” he said. “The game is going to be really tough. There is no away goals so anything can change: that is my message to the players.”
Amorim added: “You saw two games: the first 25 minutes, before the goal and then after the sending-off the game changed. The most important thing is that after that the opponent didn’t get many shots. In the first 30 minutes they had some chances to score and didn’t.”
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