Hojlund’s double off the bench spares Onana as Man Utd end dismal away record in Europe

Rasmus Hojlund spared goalkeeper Andre Onana’s blushes for his earlier error by scoring a double off the bench as Manchester United beat Viktoria Plzen 2-1 in the Czech Republic.

Former Watford, West Brom, Burnley and Derby County striker Matej Vydra capitalised on the goalkeeper’s mistake, which followed a disastrous outing against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, to put his side in front in the second half.

The lively Pavel Sulc, who before the game had spoken about his idolisation of Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney when he was a youngster growing up, capitalised on Onana’s loose pass intended for Mathjis de Ligt and squared for Vydra to tap into an empty net.

But United avoided defeat thanks to substitute Hojlund, on in place of Marcus Rashford who was fortunate to avoid a second yellow card for a sliding challenge in the second half. The striker benefitted from some good fortune for his first, with Amad’s attempt taking a kind ricochet into his path to present him with an easy finish.

His second showed the striker’s class, however, finishing low into the bottom corner after Bruno Fernandes had caught out Plzen with a quickly taken free-kick. Onana was probably the most pleased of anyone in the stadium, however, running to join his team-mates in celebration.

The victory is United’s first away win in Europe in more than a year, a pleasing record for Amorim to break despite a far from convincing overall performance.

In a first half of little action, United seemed more focused on trying to keep possession of the ball than playing forwards and actively trying to score. Bruno Fernandes had the best chance for his side, forcing a good low stop from goalkeeper Martin Jedlicka.

They finished the opening 45 minutes with 71% possession but just three shots and rarely looked threatening, In fact, the home side probably edged the game in terms of dangerous moments, causing United problems when they played direct into their energetic front three of Vydra, Sulc and Daniel Vasulin.

Then came the moment of despair for Onana, whose error in failing to keep out Morgan Gibbs-White’s shot against Nottingham Forest proved costly in their last outing. He looked shaky right from the start against Plzen, spilling a long throw into the box in the first half and his early jitters continued, playing a poor pass to De Ligt which Sulc pounced upon before squaring to team-mate Vydra.

United piled on the pressure after Hojlund’s close-range equaliser and could have found a second through Hojlund when Fernandes’ low ball narrowly evaded the striker. Though Plzen themselves could have gone back ahead when Vydra fired just wide of the bottom corner from the centre of the box.

Mason Mount, another substitute, spurned two great chances to give United the lead, first shooting straight at Jedlicka after some good work from Amad before doing the same again from Hojlund’s pass.

This might not have been the dominant display United fans were hoping for against an inferior opposition, but after a dreadful first few months of the campaign an away win in Europe is just what the club needed and this will have been an another educational exercise for Amorim as to how he takes this team forward.