Man United beat Athletic Club 3-0 in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final at San Mames on Thursday evening.
Harry Maguire lauded the performance of teammate Casemiro after he starred in Manchester United’s statement 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League on Thursday night.
United put one foot in the final of the competition with a superb away performance and result in the first leg of their semi-final showdown at San Mames.
Despite having to withstand their fair share of early pressure, United found themselves 3-0 up at half-time following goals from Bruno Fernandes (2) and Casemiro.
The latter opened the scoring with half an hour on the clock, heading home after some superb play by Maguire, before Fernandes converted a penalty and then stroked home a third just before half-time.
Casemiro, who was reunited with Manuel Ugarte in midfield, was excellent in the engine room, winning four tackles, completing four clearances, completing 84 per cent of his attempted passes and he had 109 touches of the ball.
“I think Casemiro was brilliant tonight,” Maguire told MUTV. “I definitely believe he was the Man of the Match.
“He was everywhere and he scored a crucial goal as well. I think the header was a lot more difficult than he made it look; there was spin on the ball from Manu’s header.
“It was a great, controlled finish.”
Maguire also hailed United’s work in both boxes, adding: “I think first and foremost, we were more clinical. In recent games we hadn’t been clinical enough and we hadn’t defended our box well enough.
“Goals change games and goals win football matches. They started really well, the intensity of the stadium was unbelievable; the fans were brilliant for them and they started really well and put us under a lot of pressure.
“But we defended our box well and that is what you have got to do at times.”
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