Bruno Fernandes hopes late goal at Bournemouth gives Rasmus Hojlund confidence

Bruno Fernandes hopes striker Rasmus Hojlund takes confidence from only his fourth Premier League goal of the season as Manchester United target two trips to Bilbao.

Hojlund posted “we wanted the win, but I needed that” on Instagram after pouncing in the sixth minute of added time to salvage a 1-1 draw at 10-man Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon.

The 22-year-old has struggled to find the net regularly since moving to Old Trafford from Atalanta for an initial £64million fee in the summer of 2023.

A post shared by Rasmus Winther Højlund (@rasmus.hoejlund)

United’s dismal campaign – their worst in the Premier League – is being kept alive by participation in the Europa League – a competition Hojlund has scored five times in.

Ruben Amorim’s men travel to Athletic Bilbao on Thursday for the first leg of their semi-final and, with the May 21 final also being staged at San Mames Stadium, are bidding to book a return visit to the Basque city.

“He knows the responsibility of being the number nine of United and he has to score goals, that’s the demand of a club like this, not only for him, but for everyone else,” captain Fernandes said of Hojlund, speaking to MUTV.

“Everyone that plays here who has the qualities to get into the box to score goals has to do it.

“Everyone is very happy to see a striker scoring and hopefully it’s going to give him a little bit of a push for what’s coming.

“Obviously, now we have to start recovering, focus on what we have to do against Athletic.

“It’s going to be a very tough game, we know that they play at home, they will play the final at home if they beat us.

“For us, it’s giving the chance to our fans to travel two times to Bilbao.”

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