Athletic Bilbao 0 Man Utd 3: United on verge of final after thrashing Spaniards following controversial red card
MAYBE Manchester United fans could just stay in Bilbao for a few of weeks rather than fly home tomorrow.
Because – barring a miracle – their team will be back in the Basque country in just 19 days’ time for the final.
And if they do lift the trophy on May 21 and secure their lucrative pass through to next season’s Champions League, nobody will deserve it more than Bruno Fernandes.
Two goals here during a first half of astonishing drama and another captain’s performance from him.
Just where would they be without the Portugal international? Time and time again, he steps up when they need him most.
He was the coolest man in the San Mames Stadium – which was a cauldron before kick-off and threatened to boil over at times.
Nothing will top the quarter-final victory over Lyon for excitement – yet the end of the opening half here took some believing.
United weathered an early storm from the home team and struck three times in the space of 15 minutes – as Bilbao went down to ten men.
Athletic have the meanest defence in Spain and have not lost a game at home in months – so this was completely out of the blue.
There was an early warning for the home side as Alejandro Garnacho raced clear and had the ball in the net early but was denied by the offside flag.
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However, for the next 25 minutes, the game went as expected – with United under the pump amid the deafening noise.
Alex Berenguer was given too much space and went for the bottom corner but was denied by Andre Onana.
Yuri Berchiche headed wide from the resulting corner while Inaki Williams nodded a lovely cross by Berenguer over the bar.
Inaki’s cross was not cleared by Victor Lindelof but luckily the Swede was there to block Berenguer’s effort.
It had been all Bilbao but on the half hour, United took the lead with their first effort of note.
Harry Maguire somehow popped up on the right wing and did superbly to get to the byline and whip over a cross.
Manuel Ugarte flicked it on and there was Casemiro to nod in at the back post.
The veteran Brazilian has won the Champions League five times but it was obvious this meant a lot to him after a tough last year at Old Trafford.
But what about the contribution of Maguire – United’s last-gasp hero in the quarter-final win over Lyon.
The England centre-half was used as a makeshift forward that night – now he was doing his bit as a tricky winger.
It was a bonus for the visitors but the whole tie turned on a huge moment just a couple of minutes later.
Rasmus Hojlund looked to have wasted a golden chance as he failed to get on the end of a Noussair Mazrouai cross.
But the VAR had spotted a tug on the Danish forward and after a long check, Norwegian ref Espen Eskas agreed.
He showed defender Dani Vivian a red card and Fernandes was the coolest man in the stadium as he sent Julen Agirrezabala the wrong way.
The San Mames was seething with the decision – while their team were falling apart before their eyes.
Ernesto Valverde made a double change to try to reorganise his team but it didn’t work.
Right before half-time, Ugarte’s backheel sent Fernandes clear and once again the skipper held his nerve to lift the ball over the home keeper.
Now the stadium was stunned as their dream of playing in the final was in ruins.
It could even have got worse for them as Mazrouai took a swing from the edge of the box and saw it come back off the bar.
This – don’t forget – was the team with the best defence in Spain this season – a team who have conceded the fewest goals at home in the top five leagues in Europe.
And United – who have lost 15 times in the Prem this season – had run riot in a 15-minute period that was almost impossible to believe.
Valverde was the Barcelona coach when they threw away a 3-0 first-leg lead at Anfield six years ago.
Now his own team had an even bigger mountain to climb than Liverpool did in that famous semi-final.
The home crowd were at boiling point over the sending off and it only got worse after the break.
They wanted Maguire sent off when he pulled down Maroan Sannadi but replays showed the United man had his shirt tugged first.
And it was United who looked more likely to extend their lead with Casemiro seeing a shot tipped over.
From the resulting corner taken by Fernandes, the former Real Madrid man sent a header against the outside of the post.
Meanwhile, the home team and their fans looked completely heartbroken. Surely their dream of hosting and playing in a final is over.