Paul Scholes pinpoints where ‘sloppy’ Man Utd must improve despite huge Europa League win
Crack a smile, Paul...
Manchester United have taken a huge step towards reaching the Europa League final after a commanding win over Athletic Bilbao but club legend Paul Scholes was still left wanting more.
Ruben Amorim’s side have enjoyed a miserable Premier League campaign, hopelessly marooned in 14th place with four games of the season left.
But in Europe, there has been real promise. Following a dramatic quarter-final victory over Lyon, United travelled to Bilbao to take on Athletic Club in the first leg of their semi-final on Thursday night.
Against a side who have the best defensive record in Spain and the best home defensive record in Europe’s top five leagues, United scored three times before half-time to take control after Athletic were reduced to 10 men.
Casemiro nodded United ahead after some sensational wing work from Harry Maguire with Bruno Fernandes scoring twice.
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With Athletic still being roared on by the home crowd, United managed the second-half well and even had chances to add to their lead.
While the three goal advantage leaves them within touching distance of the final, Scholes believes there were some ‘sloppy moments’ in the second-half.
‘I still think second half they were a little bit sloppy at times,’ Scholes told TNT Sports.
‘I think they could have managed the game a little bit better, possibly gone for the fourth and fifth goals.
‘But when you’re playing against 10 men you don’t give the other team a sniff of the ball.’
He added: ‘I think if they’d kept the ball better another goal would have come.
‘The one thing they didn’t want was to concede a goal and that never looked like it was going to happen.’
While there have been some woeful performances at Old Trafford this season, club legend Scholes is still backing his old side to finish the job next week.
‘At 3-0 this should be over, but it’s United these days we don’t really know what we’re going to get. They have been beaten at home 3-0 by a couple of teams this year,’ Scholes continued.
‘You always go into it saying it’s not over, but really from here it should be over and I think it is.’
An all-English final could await with Tottenham also securing victory in the first leg of their semi-final against Bodo Glimt.
Brennan Johnson, James Maddison and Dominic Solanke were on the score sheet in north London with Ulrik Saltnes pulling one back for the visitors late on.
