As Man United continue to flounder, Højlund gives Amorim hope

PLZEŇ, Czechia — For much of the game against Viktoria Plzeň, you could understand why Manchester United are open to offers for most of their players.

Rasmus Højlund, however, looks like one who might have a future at Old Trafford under new head coach Ruben Amorim. The Denmark striker came on midway through the second half at Doosan Arena, and a UEFA Europa League tie that looked like it might end in an embarrassing defeat was won by the finest of margins.

Højlund scored twice, including an 88th-minute winner, to help United record a scrappy 2-1 win that moves them up into the top eight of the table. In that respect, it was job done for Amorim’s team, but the Portuguese boss will have seen plenty to worry him ahead of the trip to Manchester City on Sunday.

André Onana‘s form is a particular concern after his error gifted Viktoria Plzeň the lead just days after the goalkeeper was at fault for two goals during Nottingham’s Forest’s 3-2 win at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Onana looked like a relieved man when Højlund scored late on, running the length of the pitch to join the celebrations. Relief was the overriding emotion for his manager, too, after a largely frustrating night.

“It was not a great game but we managed to do these good things and I think we deserved the win,” Amorim said afterward. “You want to see better things but then you remember that we didn’t have so much time to work.

“I think clearly we had a lack of pace during the first half. I’m always frustrated. I think I’m going to be like that for a while.”

Højlund ensured a freezing night in Czechia ended on a high note as United earned their first away win in Europe since March 2023, but the first half was one of the worst under Amorim so far. United weren’t helped by a bobbly pitch, although even that wasn’t an excuse for some of the misplaced passes during a turgid first hour.

Amorim said on his first day in the job that his team gives the ball away too much. It has been a month, and he’s still trying to fix the issue. The sloppiness was summed up by Joshua Zirkzee.

Starting at the central point in United’s three-man attack, the Netherlands international lost possession 11 times inside the first 30 minutes. By half-time it was up to 16. He was finally substituted in the 61st minute, but not before the number of balls lost had risen to 19.

Zirkzee wasn’t the only one guilty of needless mistakes.

Marcus Rashford had already been booked when he decided to dive into a challenge with Sampson Dweh early in the second half. There was minimal contact, but it was still a reckless tackle.

The Viktoria Plzeň coaching staff leapt off the bench demanding a red card. Marian Barbu, the Romanian referee, showed enough restraint to buy Amorim some time and Rashford was immediately substituted. It mirrored a situation in Amorim’s first game at Ipswich Town when he admitted to replacing Rashford before he got himself sent off.

Individual mistakes are hampering United’s progress under their new manager. It was true against Forest, and the same happened here.

Viktoria Plzeň were struggling to create anything when Lisandro Martínez played an innocuous pass back to Onana. The Cameroon goalkeeper appeared to see Matthijs de Ligt under pressure but decided to pass him the ball anyway. Pavel Sulc nipped in and crossed for Matěj Vydra — once of Watford, Derby County and Burnley — to score with the simplest of finishes.

Højlund equalised just six minutes after coming on after a good run from Amad. United then produced the one moment of real quality in the entire 90 minutes when Bruno Fernandes drilled a free kick into Højlund’s feet and the 21-year-old spun Alexandr Sojka and scored with a low finish across Martin Jedlička in the Viktoria Plzeň goal.

It’s now five goals in six Europa League games for Højlund and he heads into the final two rounds of fixtures as the competition’s top scorer. He was so desperate for a third that he ended up in a heated row with Amad after the final whistle because the winger didn’t pass him the ball during a late break.

Højlund’s performance and the fight shown by United to come back from a goal down are at least two positives Amorim can take to the Etihad this weekend.

“The way we give a goal to the opponent, it was important not to give up,” Amorim said. “That’s a great message. We need to feel something. In this moment, we need to feel something and if we need to fight each other for me it’s a very, very good sign. We need to feel something and that is important. I want to see more like all of us. That’s why they are fighting at the end of the game. We want to improve and we want to improve really fast.”