Viktoria Plzen 1-2 Man United: Rasmus Hojlund rescues Red Devils with second-half brace – after hosts took the lead through Andre Onana howler
In temperatures below freezing and in a below-average match, Rasmus Hojlund climbed off the bench here in Plzen to light the fire under Manchester United.
As if scoring two more goals to give Ruben Amorim’s side another Europa League win wasn’t enough for Hojlund, he became involved in a heated argument with teammate Amad Diallo at the final whistle.
After watching United battle the Czechs for almost an hour with Hojlund not involved at the Doosan Arena, Amorim was pleased with both aspects of the Dane’s contribution.
The fallout seemed to have arisen from Hojlund refusing to pass to Diallo deep into stoppage time in retaliation for the Ivorian refusing to pass to him moments earlier.
“For me it’s perfect,” Amorim said with a smile. ‘Right now we need to feel something. When we have to fight each other, it’s like a family. If you don’t care, you don’t do anything. If you care, you fight with your brother, with your father, with your mother. It’s a very good sign.
‘It’s a healthy thing. I let the players and the captain calm things down. If it’s too much for me, I go to the locker room, but that’s their space. They have to talk, fight. For me it’s a very good day.’
Manchester United regained victory after beating Viktoria Plzen 2-1 on Thursday
Rasmus Hojlund scored twice – after United fell behind – to seal all three points for his side
Hojlund fired home from close range for his second goal to seal the win
It didn’t seem that way when another blunder by Andre Onana gave Viktoria the lead shortly after half-time. The goalkeeper’s terrible pass to Matthijs De Ligt followed his mistake against Nottingham Forest last weekend, when he was beaten by Morgan Gibbs-White’s tame effort.
But after striking twice against Bodo/Glimt at Old Trafford a fortnight ago to give United a Europa League victory, Hojlund did the same here after replacing Marcus Rashford, who was fortunate not to be sent off.
In deciding the outcome of an insipid football match, he pushed United to fifth in the table as they celebrated a first away win in Europe in 21 months since beating Real Betis in Spain in March 2023.
Amorim also avoided a third straight defeat after losing to Arsenal and Forest in the last nine days, but United go into Sunday’s Manchester derby at the Etihad in competition with City, for whom the team are currently in their worst form.
“The win is always better to prepare for the next game,” said United’s head coach. “It wasn’t a great game, but the way we gave the opponent a goal, it was important not to give up and I think we deserved the win.”
Amorim looked frustrated during the terrible first half. He crouched on the touchline and shook his head frequently as United faced average opposition in the freezing conditions.
He had warned of Viktoria’s unbeaten record at home in Europe this season, but that consisted of wins over little-known Ukrainians Kryvbas and Heart of Midlothian in the play-offs to reach the league stage of this competition, followed by a draw against Ludogorets and a more respectable victory over Real Sociedad last month.
No one summed up United’s miserable performance better than Joshua Zirkzee, who was picked to take the lead but struggled to even keep hold of the ball.
Plzen had taken the lead through Matej Vydra after causing an error by Andre Onana
However, Danish international Hojlund was on hand to save the game for the Red Devils
Ruben Amorim (right) watched as his team returned to victory on Thursday evening
The Dutchman was furiously reprimanded early on by his boss for giving the ball away, and remarkably had done so 15 more times before the half-time whistle blew.
But it was Onana’s mistake that did the most damage to United within three minutes of the restart, after Casemiro already required treatment after crashing into his teammate in the first half.
Onana wisely decided not to pass out to De Ligt with two Viktoria strikers close by, but then changed her mind and did it anyway. Pavel Sulc sneaked in to win the ball and squared it for Matej Vydra to score into an empty net.
Vydra will not have scored an easier goal in his Premier League career with West Brom and Burnley, nor in his years in the Championship with Watford, Derby and Reading.
“We have full confidence in Andre,” said United captain Bruno Fernandes. ‘He’s a smart boy, so we don’t have to tell him. It’s not about Andre making the mistake. We want to play from the back and everyone knows we have to make the right decisions.”
Hojlund would probably have come on for Zirkzee, but Amorim decided to hook the ineffective Rashford when he knocked Sampson Dweh to the ground after being shown a yellow card for a foul before half-time.
The introductions of Antony and Mason Mount also lifted United, but Hojlund will rightly grab the headlines.
Ironically, Diallo had a hand in the first goal six minutes after Hojlund came on when he cut in from the right and beat Viktoria skipper Lukas Kalvach before firing in a low shot. Martin Jedlicka kept the ball out, but the ball ended up at the feet of Hojlund, who turned it in from close range.
He then scored his fifth goal in four games under Amorim in the 88th minute to take the victory. Fernandes deserves credit for playing a smart free-kick low in the box, and Hojlund spanned Alexandr Sojka before burying his shot.
“I’ve seen Bruno do that before,” Hojlund said. ‘He scored a goal earlier with Anthony Martial and I thought I had a good chance because I am strong and can push, turn and finish.’