Match Report: Manchester United 4-1 Athletic Club

Manchester United defeated Athletic Club 4-1 in the second leg of their UEFA Europa League semi-final at Old Trafford on Thursday night.

Going into the match with a three-goal lead, Man United were all but guaranteed a spot in the Europa League final so long as they did not make any disastrous errors. Needless to say, they didn’t disappoint, launching an impressive comeback in the second half triggered by the impactful substitute Mason Mount.

Still, the visitors did not seem to let their dire situation discourage them as they went into the match swinging.

Throughout the opening minutes, it was one-way traffic as Athletic placed United under constant pressure.

16 minutes in and against the run of play, Alejandro Garnacho got on the end of a through ball and broke through the defence, only for the goalkeeper to clear the ball out of danger.

In another quick counter, Patrick Dorgu burst down the centre of the pitch, passing a through ball to Rasmus Hojlund, who struggled to get the ball under control. He cut back to Bruno Fernandes, whose shot from outside the box was blocked.

In what was a concerning moment for United, Alex Berenguer cut through the defence only to fire his shot wide. On the plus side, Andre Onana made a decent dive to save the shot, certainly moving in the right direction.

A moment later, Dorgu was brought down in the box, prompting the referee to conduct a penalty review. Ultimately, it was determined that Dorgu went down too easily from a soft challenge for a spot kick to be awarded.

Yet again, it was Dorgu leading a counter-attack, sprinting down the left flank before crossing the ball into the box to Hojlund. Unfortunately, his cross was cut out.

31 minutes in, disaster struck as Harry Maguire passed the ball to the opposition in his final third. Mikel Jauregizar curled a stunning strike into the top right corner of the goal, and while Onana got a finger to the ball, it wasn’t enough to keep it out. A phenomenal strike from the Athletic midfielder to give his team a glimmer of hope in front of the Old Trafford crowd.

Conceding was exactly what United needed to spark to life. Garnacho passed a threatening ball to Dorgu in the box, whose shot was blocked by the defence. Still, it was an encouraging sign for United, who seemed to be finding their way into the game.

Three minutes from the break, Garnacho missed what was easily United’s best chance to score yet. Going one-on-one with the keeper, the winger was able to lob the ball over him, only for it to go agonisingly wide. Garnacho needs to do better when finding himself in such lethal positions.

In the first of two minutes of stoppage time, Unai Gómez played a threatening pass into the box that Onana scooped up just inches away from the goalline. 1-0, the score remained as the half-time whistle blew.

While United still had a two-goal cushion, manager Ruben Amorim no doubt needed to galvanise his team to take control and find a way back into the match, especially to restore their pride in front of the Old Trafford crowd.

In the opening minutes of the second half, United were entirely on the back foot, with Athletic constantly bombarding their defence.

Casemiro received a yellow card on the hour mark for a rough collision with Álvaro Djaló. It was an unnecessarily rough challenge by the Brazilian with little over 30 minutes still to play.

In the 61st minute, Amorim introduced a triple change. Luke Shaw replaced Noussair Mazraoui, while Mason Mount came on for Manuel Ugarte, and Amad Diallo replaced Garnacho.

Sadly, the substitutes did not make much of a difference immediately after coming on, with Unai Núñez getting a header on goal that drifted just wide of the far post. Not only did Onana remain rooted to the spot, but none of the defenders managed to rise enough to challenge the Athletic centre-back, once again showing an inability to defend against a tough opposition.

In the minutes that followed, United started to ramp up the attack, with Mount getting on the end of a cross from Amad but unable to connect with his header enough.

The ball then went out to Yoro, who advanced into the box before laying the ball off to Mount once again.

Mount made no mistakes the second time around, receiving the ball with his back to goal before swivelling around and curling the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal, out of the keeper’s reach. The home crowd erupted as Mount equalised with a phenomenal strike.

With just over 10 minutes to go, United received a free-kick on the right flank. Fernandes fired his cross into the path of Casemiro, who flung his body forward and pushed the ball into the net to catapult United into the lead.

Right afterwards, Casemiro came off to a warm reception from the fans as he was replaced by Kobbie Mainoo.

In the 85th minute, United were on the prowl again. Amad Diallo got on the end of a blistering counter-attack, threading a ball to Hojlund who was waiting in the centre. The Dane made no mistake, burying the ball into the back of the net just inches from the goal line.

Old Trafford was in hysterics as the reality that United were heading to the Europa League final began to sink in.

Just as it didn’t seem things could get any better, they did. Just past the halfway line, Mount got on the end of a misdirected pass from the goalkeeper. Noticing the empty net, Mount thumped the ball all the way into the net for a most breathtaking goal to seal United’s emphatic win.

Joy was in the air at Old Trafford as the referee blew the whistle for full-time. After being a goal down, United put in a phenomenal attacking display to turn the game around and seal a massive 7-1 win over Athletic Club on aggregate. Should United play like this in the final, the Europa League trophy will surely be within reach.

Starting XI: Onana, Lindelof, Mazraoui, Fernandes, Hojlund, Dorgu, Yoro, Garnacho, Casemiro, Ugarte
Subs: Shaw, Mount, Amad, Mainoo

Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images

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