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Hojlund brace earns Man Utd comeback win in Europa
Simon Peach, AAP • December 13th, 2024 10:00 am
Photo: AAP
Super sub Rasmus Hojlund's brace has secured Manchester United a much-needed 2-1 comeback victory in the Europa League at Viktoria Plzen as Ruben Amorim registered his first away win as head coach.
After making a promising start to life as Erik ten Hag's successor, things were thrown off track by the shock exit of sporting director Dan Ashworth and back-to-back defeats to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.
Amorim was staring down the barrel of a damaging third straight loss early in the second half when ex-Burnley striker Matej Vydra put Plzen ahead after boyhood United fan Pavel Sulc cut out Andre Onana's poor pass.
But Hojlund's introduction off the bench helped spark a turnaround in freezing conditions, with the substitute soon converting after Amad Diallo's effort was blocked.
The visitors continued to knock on the door and two minutes from time the Denmark international met a smart Bruno Fernandes free-kick with strength, a decent touch and a thumping finish.
United's first European victory on the road since March 2023 sees them take a giant step towards the knockout stages as attention turns to Sunday's trip to stumbling Manchester City.
United captain Fernandes defended Onana after his intended pass to Matthijs de Ligt went astray.
"We want to play from the back," said Fernandes on TNT Sports. "We have to make the decision that is the right one. Andre thought that Matty could get to the ball, he missed the pass, they scored a goal, but that's nothing that we have to focus about.
"You have to focus on what's the best solution that we can do it in the future, but it's not about Andre making the mistake. We don't look at individuals here when something happens in the wrong side or the good side.
"We have huge belief in Andre. He knows he made a mistake, we don't need to tell him, and he's going to help us many times coming out from the back. We trust his qualities on the ball."
In other early action on Thursday, Athletic beat Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce 2-0, Roma defeated Braga 3-0 while Union posted a 2-1 win over Nice.
There were 2-2 draws for Malmo and Galatasaray and Lugogrets and AZ Alkmaar, while Olympiacos and Twente both couldn't get on the scoresheet in their clash.
PAOK thrashed Ferencvaros 5-0, where there were five different scorers.
