Bruno Fernandes struck twice as Manchester United put one foot in the Europa League final with a clinical away performance to beat 10-man Athletic Bilbao 3-0 on Thursday.
The fervent home fans were enraged when Athletic defender Daniel Vivian was sent off for pulling back Rasmus Hojlund and Fernandes slotted home the resulting penalty, after Casemiro had opened the scoring against the run of play in the semi-final first leg.
Fernandes rolled in a third before half-time as Ruben Amorim’s side moved a step closer to the final, to be held at Athletic’s San Mames stadium.
The hosts have been dreaming of winning a first European trophy on their own soil but their hopes were demolished by United’s professional display in the north of Spain — and Athletic’s supporters argued, the refereeing.
Languishing in 14th in the Premier League, Champions League qualification for United is only possible with a Europa League triumph, as is access to the £100 million ($133 million) honeypot it entails.
Despite regularly crumbling under pressure this season, the Red Devils — who produced a stunning comeback against Lyon in the quarter-finals — first survived and then thrived in a hostile environment.
“We looked a little bit nervous at times in the first 20 minutes… we weathered the storm and we knew we’d get our chance,” Man United’s Harry Maguire told TNT Sports.
“It was a clinical first half, professional second half… It’s a great victory in the end but there’s another big game next week.”
With May 1 a bank holiday in Spain the streets of Bilbao were filled with red-and-white striped shirts from the morning onwards, in party mode.
The San Mames was rocking as fans greeted their heroes, all of them born or raised in the Basque country, as per the club’s century-long policy.
Alejandro Garnacho’s early strike gave the hosts a scare but the forward was offside.
Beyond that the early stages of the match for United were about gritting their teeth and holding off the Basque side and their raucous supporters.