Normally I don’t watch Europa League matches, since they usually lack a certain amount of prestige you get when following the Champions League. But since both Manchester clubs take part in Europe’s second most important competition, I do throw an eye every once in a while onto an interesting match. And tonight, I was in luck.
Manchester United hosted the Spanish team from Bilbao in Old Trafford, only to find themselves being the weaker team! The Spaniards were the better side from the very beginning of the match. Countless chances to open the scoring were denied by ManU goalkeeper De Gea, who played an excellent game.
Ironically, the scoring was opened by Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney, as he put a rebound ball, that was previously saved by Iraizoz, into the net in the 22nd minute. All neutral viewers felt like Bilbao were cheated by fate. But fortunately, they did not give up and continued pressing forward strongly. The team from the Basque region was rewarded for it’s efforts in the 44th minute, when Fernando Llorente converted a header just before half time.
The second half consisted of countless chances for the Spaniards to move in front, but De Gea was simply too good. Athletic Bilbao not only dominated the number of attempts on goal, they also had the majority of possession. United were definitely not used to being in such a position at home.
Still, Bilbao had to be patient before getting rewarded again. Then, in the 72nd minute, a great cross to de Marcos made it 2:1 for the Spanish team from Bilbao, as de Marcos took the cross directly on a volley and put the ball into the net. However, replays shown later proved that de Marcos was in an offside position. Nevertheless, Bilbao deserved to go in front, since they were the better side by far tonight.
The next two goals came just before the end, as Patrice Evra lost one of his boots and played the ball with his exposed foot. German referee Florian Meyer immediately blew his whistle and decided on a free kick for Athletic Bilbao. Now it all went very fast, as a long cross over the entire pitch set up de Marcos, who took a direct shot at De Gea, who saved it brilliantly, but only to be beaten by nineteen-year-old Iker Muniain, as the youngster sprinted towards the goal and blasted it into the net. Manchester’s Rafael looked like he was not in the mood for defending in that moment, even though he was in a rather good position to clear the ball before Muniain got to it.
But Manchester managed to get back one goal, as the latest goal scorer Muniain played handball just inside of the sixteen yard area. Who else but Wayne Rooney converted from the spot with a hard shot into the left hand corner of the goal. The match ended 2:3 shortly after.
Manchester United now have a huge problem to solve, as visiting teams in the Sam Mamés have great difficulty winning, just ask Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.
The Germafrican 