Ruben Amorim praised Harry Maguire for coming through “difficult moments” after the defender’s uncharacteristic role in the build up to Manchester United’s opening goal in their 3-0 Europa League semi-final first-leg win over Athletic Club.
Maguire, 32, found himself on the right wing of United’s attack in the 30th minute at the Estadio San Memes, chopped inside before striding back towards the byline and delivering a cross which was nodded on by Manuel Ugarte, and headed into the back of the net by Casemiro.
Maguire also scored the winner after being deployed in United’s attack during their dramatic 5-4 victory over Lyon in the quarter-final second leg. Following his contributions in Bilbao, Amorim described the centre-back as a “good winger” and praised the defender for coming through periods of criticism at the club.
Amorim told TNT Sports: “Sometimes there are moments in our life, and Harry had difficult moments and everything he did was, I don’t want to say wrong, but it is that word, wrong. Now everything he does it good for the team, so he has to enjoy it.”
Maguire said it was a “nice feeling” to again contribute in the final third, and praised team-mate Casemiro for a “great header” to open the scoring.
“I found myself attacking the back post,” Maguire said. “It was nice to do a bit of dribbling out there and put in a great cross. We had a lot of bodies in the box so they must have trusted me to get that cross in.”
(Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
United captain Bruno Fernandes, meanwhile, described Maguire as a “more confident man now”, but admitted he did not expect him to produce the piece of skill that led to his side’s opening goal.
“I said it straight away: what a winger,” Fernandes said. “I don’t think even he thought he had that in his locker. No one was expecting that, I don’t think even the opposition was expecting that.”
Fernandes doubled United’s lead from the penalty spot on 37 minutes, after Dani Vivian was adjudged to have felled Rasmus Hojlund in the box upon a VAR review, as the striker was held back while attempting to convert a Noussair Mazraoui cross. The Athletic defender was shown a red card after referee Espen Eskas was sent to the monitor.
Fernandes scored his second shortly before half time to give United a three-goal lead heading into next week’s second leg at Old Trafford.
“The result is really good, but we have to understand the result also,” Amorim said. “With a little bit of luck, we managed to keep us in the game. Any game can change with one situation. We had opportunities to score one more.
“This is not done, they can do the same thing at Old Trafford because they are really strong. One sending off can happen in our stadium, so we need to be prepared.”
Amorim added his squad will have to be “really careful” to avoid injury in their Premier League match against Brentford on Sunday, before the second leg takes place on Thursday, May 8.
(Top photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)