• Rasmus Hojlund scored twice to spare Man Utd blushes
  • Viktoria Plzen took the lead in Europa League encounter
  • Marcus Rashford struggled amid rumours of possible exit

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.