BILBAO, Spain, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Manchester United took a significant step toward the Europa League final with a 3-0 win away to Athletic Bilbao after the host had to play for almost an hour with 10 men after defender Dani Vivian was sent off.

Cheered on by a fervent home crowd, who hope to see the final played in their own San Mames Stadium, Athletic started strongly, pressing United high up the field and creating decent chances.

Andre Onana pushed Alex Berenguer's early shot wide, before Inaki Williams headed over when he should have hit the target.

Williams then found space on the right and pulled the ball back for Berenguer, whose shot was cleared off the line.

The scoreline changed in the 30th minute when Harry Maguire appeared in unfamiliar territory on the right wing and crossed for Casemiro to nod home.

In the 35th minute, Alejandro Garnacho seemed to control the ball with his hand, but the referee allowed play to continue and when the ball went across the Athletic area, Rasmus Hojlund went down.

There was a long VAR check, after which the referee awarded United a penalty and sent off Vivian, leaving the home side with 10 men and 2-0 down after Bruno Fernandes slotted home the spot kick.

Athletic was still reorganizing when Fernandes made it 3-0, latching onto Manuel Ugarte's through ball to score the third of the night.

The home side was clearly unhappy with the refereeing, and in the second half, played with more heart than head, while United was able to control the play and take advantage of the extra man.

Casemiro saw a header graze the post and Athletic goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala made two good saves to deny Fernandes his hat-trick, but United will feel they have almost done enough to start thinking about a return visit to Bilbao for the final on May 21. ■