The rescue act is on for Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Big wins for both teams in the Europa League semifinals on Thursday kept alive their hopes of lifting a major trophy and qualifying for the Champions League — salvaging their respectively woeful seasons in the process.
United beat Athletic Club 3-0 at San Mames in Spain with Bruno Fernandes leading the way with a pair of goals, and Tottenham won 3-1 at home against Norwegian club Bodo/Glimt as Brennan Johnson, James Maddison and Dominic Solanke all got on the scoresheet.
“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 said after the match. “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.”
In the end, it was possibly United’s finest performance of the season and gives them a commanding first-leg lead over Athletic Club.
Casemiro headed Ruben Amorim’s team in front in the 30th minute after a cross from Maguire after some fancy footwork on the edge of the box. Seven minutes later, Rasmus Højlund was brought down in the box by Dani Vivian and a penalty was awarded after a VAR review. Vivian was shown a red card for the foul, and Fernandes converted from the spot.
Fernandes got his second and United’s third in the 45th by running through on goal and curling a shot past goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala.
United’s win could have been even more emphatic with Noussair Mazraoui and Casemiro both hitting the woodwork.
The second legs will be played next Thursday, with United hosting Athletic Club at Old Trafford and Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs away to Bodo/Glimt. The final is set for May 21 at San Mames, the site of United’s big win on Thursday.
“It puts us in a good position,” Postecoglou said of the win. “I thought the players were outstanding. Our performance was everything it needed to be: well-organized defensively, calm going forward, creating good opportunities for ourselves and maintaining pressure.
“They scored the late goal which doesn’t reflect our dominance, but if we repeat that performance next week, it’ll be enough for us to get through.”
United and Spurs have endured miserable domestic campaigns and are languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League. But European club soccer’s second-tier Europa League could yet put a happy ending on a season filled with disappointment.
Tottenham are looking for a first UEFA Cup/Europa League final appearance since winning the title in 1983-84 and first final in the UEFA Europa League era. Spurs made the Champions League final in 2018-19, losing to Liverpool.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.
