Hojlund stars in the visitors’ work

Rasmus Hojlund came off the bench to score twice and give Ruben Amorim a much-needed victory despite another poor Manchester United performance in Plzen.

Hojlund’s fourth and fifth goals with Amorim got United out of jail after a performance that again leaves more questions than answers for the Portuguese.

After a woeful first 45 minutes, United fell behind when another mistake from Andre Onana allowed veteran striker Matej Vydra to put Plzen in front.

Hojlund replaced Marcus Rashford (the England international was sent off before being sent off after another lackluster performance) and made an immediate impact, scoring the equalizer before hitting the winner in the 88th minute.

Rasmus Højlund in the Champions League and Europa League since joining Man United:

🏟 12 games
⚽ 10 goals

He loves a European night 🤩 pic.twitter.com/xDrqw2Cmne

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 12, 2024

The victory puts United in fifth place in the Europa League table heading into tonight’s final matches, but they will have to show marked improvement if they are to progress in the competition.

United well below par in a monotonous first half

For an hour, Amorim must have wondered what he had signed up for as United battled limited opposition.

Time and time again the visitors gave the ball away cheaply, struggling to bring cohesion to their play on what was undoubtedly a difficult pitch.

The first half was virtually devoid of any quality, with Plzen as poor as their illustrious opponents.

The two teams could only muster one decent chance each: Bruno Fernandes raced in from inside his own half before firing in a shot that prompted a smart save from home goalkeeper Martin Jedlicka while, at the other end, Onana watched gratefully as the shot by Cheick Souare shone. narrowly missing his left post.

The lack of attacking intent in the first period was best demonstrated by a combined xG of 0.36, the lowest in the competition this season.

Oh-for Onana

Onana, at least, changed things three minutes after the restart, although not in the way Amorim would have wanted.

Having been at fault for two of Nottingham Forest’s goals at Old Trafford at the weekend, the Cameroonian made another mistake when attempting a short pass outside his area to Matthijs de Ligt. The ball was well below the Dutchman, allowing Pavel Sulc to get close and square it for Vydra to shoot from point-blank range.

Andre Onana won’t want to see that again 🫣

A gift from United goalkeeper and Reading veteran Matej Vydra dives to put Plzen ahead 😱

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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 12, 2024

Hojlund’s introduction changes the game

United’s task would have become much more difficult if referee Marian Barbu had seen less clearly an unnecessary lunge by Rashford on Plzen full-back Sampson Dweh. Rashford, who was already on a yellow card, broke away and was immediately replaced by Amorim and replaced by Hojlund.

The Dane’s increased intensity encouraged United and, after Jedlicka saved a shot, Hojlund equalized just after the hour mark.

It is not the first time in recent weeks that the goal was the work of the brilliance of Amad Diallo, the Ivorian who fired at Svetozar Markovic before firing a shot that was parried by Jedlicka directly into the path of Hojlund, who made no mistake. .

United finally looked a threat as VAR rejected penalty calls for a Dweh handball and Hojlund somehow failed to finish off Fernandes’ excellent cross from the left.

Substitute Mason Mount should have asserted his superiority in the 76th minute, but Diallo played fair and shot weekly at the goalkeeper.

Mount went close again before United scored the winning goal late on.

Fernandes was the provider with a free kick, but Hojlund still had plenty to do, but he was equal to the challenge, taking the ball away from Alexandr Sojka before firing past Jedlicka.

Antony was about to add the third at the end, but a good save prevented him from doing so.

Set piece magic for United 😍

Hojlund gets his second when a ‘Bruno Brilliance’ clears him to give Man Utd a late lead 👀

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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 12, 2024