Manchester United bounced back from successive 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 that known the world over as the spiritual home of pilsner-style lager. The Red Devils fell behind early in the second half to a gift of a goal scored by ex-EFL Championship journeyman Matej Vydra.
But two off the bench from Rasmus Hojlund spared any blushes to secure United’s win.
How the game unfolded
The first half of this one really wasn’t much of a spectacle. By the end of the opening 45 minutes, United had dominated the ball without creating anything really of note. Viktoria had a few more shots but none of them were on target to test Andre Onana.
United had generated an xG of 0.20 at the half, with Viktoria on 0.16, per Fotmob. That was the lowest combined expected goals (0.36) in the first half of any Europa League game this season.
The second half, thankfully, had more to it.
However, it started dreadfully from a United perspective. Onana was the guilty party, trying to play out from the back and passing the ball straight to Pavel Sulc on the edge of his own penalty area. A square to ball to Vydra and the veteran frontman couldn’t miss.
Ironically, it was Sulc who then almost handed United a way back into the game when his poor backpass was picked off by Hojlund, through on goal, although just enough pressure from the recovering Sampson Dweh meant the eventual shot was too tame to beat Martin Jedlicka.
It was still a sign that Hojlund meant business, though, and he got his goal not long after when he was in the right place at the right time to turn in a rebound from Amad Diallo’s saved shot.
The Dane changed the game, his goal sparking the team into life. He missed a chance midway through the second half when he was just unable to connect with Bruno Fernandes’ ball across the face of goal. But the pair did successfully combine for the 88th minute winner as the United skipper picked out his striker in the box with a disguised reverse pass from a deep free-kick.
Hojlund’s first touch saw the ball invitingly pop up as he rolled his marker, swinging his left leg through it to drive a shot across goal into the bottom corner.
Check out the player ratings from Viktoria Plzen 1-2 Man Utd here.
Amorim is yet to settle on a first choice striker, recently explaining that it might become clearer over the course of the season as the team settles. When fit, it had been Hojlund under predecessor Erik ten Hag, but the Dane has had to accept rotation from the new boss so far.
When Amorim does decide who he wants leading the line in the long-term, Hojlund will want to be front of the queue – as will Joshua Zirkzee – so taking these chances is important.
It wasn’t Zirkzee’s night here, nor was it was Marcus Rashford’s, but Hojlund got United back level within seven minutes of replacing the latter early in the second half, before going on to get the winner. The Dane has now found the net five times in his last four appearances across all competitions.
In the week it was reported that United are prepared to listen to offers for Rashford, and in some quarters claimed he is “fighting for his future” at the club, this game was prime for a response.
It didn’t come.
After United’s first half display in Plzen, Rashford was the first player hooked by Amorim as he looked to inject something different into a lacklustre attack.
According to Fotmob stats, Rashford’s combined xG and xA during his 55 minutes on the pitch was 0.02. He had no shots, created no chances and had only three touches in Viktoria’s box. If he really is having to “fight” for his United career, that isn’t the way to do it.
You have to imagine that come the Manchester derby at the weekend, Amorim will be looking to Alejandro Garnacho in the left forward role instead.
Andre Onana won’t want to see that again
A gift from the United keeper and Reading old-boy Matej Vydra pounces 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 number of high profile errors that proved costly in those opening months. But the Cameroonian then dramatically improved to the point where he was often the team’s best player instead.
The last couple of games, it feels like Onana has slipped back to where he was over a year ago. It wasn’t great goalkeeping when Morgan Gibbs-White’s shot for Nottingham Forest too easily beat him at the weekend and it was a lax pass that handed Viktoria their goal here.
United didn’t win any of their opening three Europa League games this season against Twente, Porto and Fenerbahce. But after victories over PAOK and Bodo/Glimt coming into 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 have concluded. The top 24 teams will advance to the knockout rounds, but only the top eight will automatically go straight into the last 16.
That’s where United obviously want to be, not least because it takes two potential games off the calendar in the New Year due to being able to skip the knockout play-off round. Their final two league phase fixtures are against Rangers and FCSB, both of whom are in and around the same portion of the table.
