• Europa League round-up

Bilbao teach Utd a lesson, City beaten on away goals

Manchester United were taught a rare footballing lesson by a rampant Athletic Club in Bilbao on Thursday, as they were dumped out of the Europa League in impressive fashion.

A lacklustre campaign in European football this season was brought to an end with no-little merit by the entertaining Basque side, who completed a 2-1 victory at San Mames to secure a comfortable 5-3 aggregate victory after winning at Old Trafford last week.

Fernando Llorente got the opener for the hosts with a spectacular first-time volley beyond David De Gea, before Oscar De Marcos subsequently put the contest beyond doubt with a thumping finish shortly after the hour-mark.

Wayne Rooney later scored a beautiful curling effort with ten minutes remaining, but it ultimately proved to be nothing more than a consolation for the side after a subdued display.

In between those strikes there was a moment that perhaps summed up the gulf in class between the two sides on the night, as Athletic left-back Ander Iraola came within inches of scoring one of the greatest goals in the competition's history - beating two men (one of them twice) with some breathtaking close control in the box, before sliding his shot narrowly wide of the post.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side knew they faced an uphill battle to qualify for the last eight of the competition after a surprise 3-2 defeat at Old Trafford in the first leg and, during a game played amid a fantastic atmosphere at San Mames, the Premier League leaders never looked like overcoming a side that currently lies seventh in La Liga.

Llorente was the focal point for Athletic but it was the players in behind him causing all the trouble, with Iker Muniain and De Marcos consistently finding space to play intricate football that caused United no end of trouble. In the end it was Llorente who broke the deadlock, however, and he did so in emphatic fashion - rifling a first-time effort as the ball dropped over his shoulder, a strike reminiscent of Robin van Persie's for Arsenal against Everton earlier in the season.

From that moment on Bilbao ran riot (although Llorente was soon forced off through injury), with United only extremely rarely looking like getting on the scoresheet themselves. De Marcos, Susaeta and Llorente's replacement Gaizka Toquero both tried their luck, before Iraola showed his attacking poise with a passage of play that really deserved to be rewarded with a goal.

Then came the clincher - De Marcos finally finishing off another clever Bilbao move inside the box, with the over-worked De Gea given no chance. That sent the San Mames crowd into party mood, but they showed their class soon after - rising as one to applaud Ryan Giggs as he was substituted, a nod to his career achievements after an underwhelming individual display.

Ferguson seemed to have recognised the tie was lost by that point - having previously withdrawn Michael Carrick and Rio Ferdinand for Paul Pogba and Chris Smalling respectively - but they were given a glimmer of hope in the closing stages thanks to Rooney, who curled a 25-yarder beyond Gorka Iraizoz to leave United the task of scoring twice more in the final ten minutes.

They did nearly cause a flutter - Iraizoz palming away Danny Welbeck's awkward long-range shot as it headed for the far corner - but Bilbao held firm to claim a deserved, memorable success.

Manchester City were knocked out of the Europa League on away goals against Sporting Lisbon, despite a spirited comeback that nearly saw them score the four goals in 30 minutes they needed to progress.

Having lost the first leg in Portugal 1-0, Sporting appeared to be home and dry when they scored twice before half-time to grab a 3-0 aggregate lead. But City fought back manfully in the second half thanks to goals from Sergio Aguero (twice) and Mario Balotelli (penalty) - but they were unable to get the final goal they needed as they went out on away goals, winning 3-2 on the night but drawing 3-3 on aggregate.

Everything looked to be going smoothly for Sporting in the opening stages, as they extended their 1-0 lead from the first leg to silence the Etihad Stadium - which was surprisingly empty for this stage of a European competition.

Matias Fernandez was the one who doubled the Portuguese club's advantage, scoring from a free-kick that had been sloppily given away by Balotelli - a mistake that enraged Roberto Mancini in the City dugout. Sporting then appeared to have booked their place in the next round thanks to Ricky van Wolfswinkel's sharp finish, a goal that meant City needed to score four times in order to conjure up a great escape.

For the first 15 minutes after half-time that did not look like happening, but a small amount of hope was forthcoming when Aguero showed his quality with a clinical two-touch finish - turning and sweeping the ball beyond Rui Patricio.

The Argentine then furthered his side's cause by winning a rather dubious penalty - the contact, if there was any, appeared to come marginally outside the box - which was converted with a stutter-step by Balotelli. By this point the home crowd appeared to have been sparked into life, and that excitement was only furthered by Aguero, as he turned home a potentially crucial third at the far post.

That gave City eight minutes (and added time) to get a winner, or face the heartache of going out on away goals. They had their chances - notably when Balotelli headed Aleksandar Kolarov's cross marginally wide, and then Joe Hart saw a close range effort saved with the very last touch of the match - but could not quite complete the job as they remain winless from their last three games.

Elsewhere, in the early kick-offs, two goals from Antonio Di Natale could not prevent Udinese slipping out of the competition against AZ Alkmaar - with Erik Falkenburg's strike salvaging a 2-1 defeat on the night and 3-2 aggregate triumph for the Dutch side.

Hannover hammered Standard Liege 4-0 on the night to clinch 6-2 success over the two legs, while Valencia also progressed to the last 16 after getting a 1-1 draw against PSV Eindhoven, having won the first leg at the Mestalla 4-2.

In the later contests, Metalist Kharkiv, Schalke 04 and Atletico Madrid all progressed into the next phase - at the expense of Olympiakos, FC Twente and Besiktas respectively.

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