Manchester United bounced back from back-to-back Premier League defeats to claim victory over Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday night.
It wasn’t an easy road for Ruben Amorim’s side in the Czech city, known around the world as the spiritual home of pilsner-style beer. The Red Devils fell behind early in the second half with the gift of a goal scored by former EFL Championship official Matej Vydra.
But two from Rasmus Hojlund’s bench avoided any blushes to secure victory for United.
How the game developed
The first half of this really wasn’t much of a show. At the end of the first 45 minutes, United had dominated the ball without creating anything of note. Viktoria took a few more shots, but none of them were ready to test Andre Onana.
United had generated an xG of 0.20 at half-time, with Viktoria at 0.16, for Fotmob. These were the lowest combined goals expected (0.36) in the first half of any Europa League game this season.
The second half, thankfully, had more.
However, it started terribly from a united perspective. Onana was the culprit, trying to play from the back and pass the ball straight to Pavel Sulc on the edge of his own penalty area. A place at the ball for Vydra and the veteran leader could not be missed.
Ironically, it was Sulc who almost delivered united A way back into the game when his poor pass was palmed away by Hojlund, across goal, although enough pressure from the recovering Sampson Dweh meant the final shot was too tame to beat Martin Jedlicka.
However, it was still a sign that Hojlund was intent, and he got his goal soon after when he was in the right place at the right time to get a rebound off Amad Diallo’s deflected shot.
The Dane changed the game, his goal gave life to the team. He missed an opportunity midway through the second half when he couldn’t connect with Bruno Fernandes’ ball on goal. But the pair combined successfully for the winner in the 88th minute as the United skipper picked out his striker in the box with a backhand pass disguised from a deep free-kick.
Hojlund’s first touch saw the ball rise attractively as he rolled his marker, looping his left leg through it to fire a shot into the bottom corner.
Check Viktoria Plzen 1-2 Man Utd player ratings here.
Amorim is still undecided on a first-choice striker, and recently explained that it could become clearer over the course of the season as the squad settles in. When he was fit, he had been Hojlund under predecessor Erik ten Hag, but the Dane has had to accept the rotation of the new boss so far.
When Amorim decides who he wants to lead the line long term, Hojlund will want to be at the front of the line, as will Joshua Zirkzee, so it’s important to have those opportunities.
It wasn’t Zirkzee’s night here, and neither was Marcus Rashford’s, but Hojlund got United level within seven minutes after replacing the latter early in the second half, before heading home the winner. The Dane has now found the net five times in his last four appearances in all competitions.
In the week it was reported that United are willing to listen to offers for Rashfordand claimed in some quarters that he is “fighting for his future” at the club, this match was ideal for a response.
It didn’t arrive.
After United’s first half in Plzen, Rashford was the first player to be snapped up by Amorim as he looked to inject something different into a lackluster attack.
according to Fotmob stats, Rashford’s combined xG and xA during his 55 minutes on the pitch was 0.02. He hasn’t had a shot, hasn’t created any chances and has only had three touches in the Viktoria area. If he really has to ‘fight’ for his United career, this is not the way to do it.
You have to imagine that come the weekend’s Manchester derby, Amorim will be looking to Alejandro Garnacho at left-forward.
Andre Onana won’t want to see it again 🫣
A gift from United keeper and Reading veteran Matej Vydra is poured in to put Plzen ahead 😱
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/fHlsdddhgp
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 12, 2024
It wasn’t the best start to his United career in the first half of last season, with Onana guilty of a series of high-profile mistakes that proved costly in those early months. But the Cameroonian improved dramatically to the point where he was often the team’s best player.
The last two games, Onana seems to be back to where it was over a year ago. He wasn’t a great keeper when Morgan Gibbs-White’s shot for Nottingham Forest beat him too easily at the weekend and it was a loose pass that gave Viktoria their goal here.
United failed to win any of their opening three Europa League games this season against Twente, Porto and Fenerbahce. But after wins over PAOK and Bodo/Glimt in this game, it’s now three in a row for the Red Devils.
12th in the table before kick-off, the result in Plzen puts Amorim’s side fifth in the latest standings, before the evening’s later games are finished. The top 24 teams will advance to the knockout rounds, but only the top eight will automatically advance directly to the last 16.
That’s where United obviously want to be, especially as it takes two potential fixtures off the calendar in the New Year so they can skip the knockout round. Their last two games of the league stage are against Rangers and FCSB, both in and around the same part of the table.
