Mount’s fine double sweeps Manchester United past Athletic Bilbao into all-English final

The Mason Mount strike that sealed Manchester United’s Europa League final berth was as sublime as Ruben Amorim’s team were slipshod until the substitute took charge.

With 72 minutes gone, Leny Yoro prodded the ball to Mount who, with the sweetest touch of his right instep, swivelled, then bent the equaliser past the helpless Julen Agirrezabala.

A jubilant Mount ran to the ecstatic Stretford End, Amorim punched a hand, and Athletic Bilbao were 4-1 down on aggregate. They were soon four behind, as Bruno Fernandes chipped a free-kick from the right to the near post where Casemiro stooped and headed in.

Rasmus Højlund’s tap-in came courtesy of the effervescent Amad Diallo’s cross, before Mount’s 45-yard arrow that made it 7-1 overall and vanquished the spectre of the mother of all collapses and means United face off against Tottenham at Athletic’s San Mamés Stadium on Wednesday week.

Forget lose their “mind”, as Amorim admitted United can do, they would need to misplace arms, legs and boots to cede a 3-0, first-leg advantage to a team missing their finest quartet in Iñaki and Nico Williams, Oihan Sancet and Dani Vivian. And so it proved.

Mount came on 10 minutes before his equaliser, part of a triple substitution alongside Diallo and Luke Shaw that, to Amorim’s immense credit, swung the match.

Given the Portuguese’s admission that his players freeze here, the last thing required was encouragement to the almost 4,000 Los Leones fans who crammed their quadrant and whose noise informed their team they still believed.

View image in fullscreen Mikel Jauregizar curls in a deft shot from 22 yards to give Athletic Bilbao hope after half an hour. Photograph: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

A sliced André Onana pass, which went for a throw, boxed United in and led to an Athletic chance only eight minutes in, was, then, anathema. The ball was worked to the lively Álex Berenguer, who had Onana’s goal gaping before him: but the No 7’s composure went missing.

From this juncture, more pressure featured another errant Onana pass and Berenguer firing in a free-kick that United’s goalkeeper fisted away. To break out, Amorim’s men would hope for a quick counter all evening, as when Casemiro slickly back-heeled to Bruno Fernandes – he fed Patrick Dorgu, Athletic were turned, and United thundered forward.

The right wing-back tapped to Højlund, whose curving run created space, and a miscontrol-then-pass to Fernandes allowed the captain to unload a shot that was blocked.

Two more United breaks followed and each ended with Amorim wringing his hands as sloppy play gave up possession. The second time, ­Berenguer was able to run from inside his territory to 20 yards from goal: the effort bounced wide but those in red were warned.

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This happened as the half-hour approached so it was so far, so (just about) good. But then disaster: United once more lost the ball upfield, it was hoofed forward, and Harry Maguire, after an aimless Maroan Sannadi header, was in control. Yet a wild crossfield pass meant for Leny Yoro went to Álvaro Djaló and when his attempt rebounded to Mikel ­Jauregizar, the No 23 blazed home from 25 yards, Onana’s ­fingertips steering it in.

Athletic’s fans partied and the comeback felt on. United needed to reach the safe harbour of half-time with no more goals conceded. Manuel Ugarte decided the best way was to surge forward, as he did through the middle – the ball went to Alejandro Garnacho, who squared, but Dorgu failed to finish. So, too, Garnacho when spurning a gilded opening to restore United’s three-goal lead: the winger’s sprint for Dorgu’s through ball was smart, the lob that went wide certainly not. The crowed “oohed” and the 20-year-old shook his head as he considered how costly it might prove.

Garnacho went close to discovering the answer nearly straight away when Unai Gómez spun a low shot that Onana only just clutched and so the players wandered off knowing the second half would be as frantic.

Amorim’s players are not adept at keep-ball, yet doing so for even a few minutes would allow them to recover and arrest Athletic’s relentlessness. But the pattern continued as the visitors added to their compendium of chances, the next a Berenguer free-kick spiralled in from the left that no colleague could profit from. Then Gómez appeared to be in on goal before Noussair Mazraoui stepped across and, moments later, the ubiquitous Berenguer dipped in a corner that the home rearguard barely scrambled out.

United were in siege mode, pinned in their half and desperate for respite so Amorim made the three match-changing substitutions. Off went Mazraoui, Ugarte and Garnacho for Shaw, Mount and Diallo, whose zigzagging foray down the right, seconds later, was an augury of what would follow. After United’s nerves jangled again, when Unai Núñez headed marginally past Onana’s right post, came Mount’s two best moments in United colours, together with Casemiro’s and Højlund’s goals.

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