Ruben Amorim continued his European winning streak with a 2-1 victory away at Plzen to wash the stench of two consecutive defeats before this.
The first half was a forgettable one, with Manchester United testing the goalkeeper with some long-distance efforts and Plzen happy to sit back and let the visitors dictate proceedings.
United dominated the ball but rarely did anything threatening with it and the first half ended goalless as a frustrated Ruben Amorim bemoaned the lack of penetration.
The second half began and Andre Onana might as well have been playing the Nottingham Forest game still as he passed straight to the opposition under no pressure which Plzen tapped into an open net for the game’s first goal.
Instead of a response, more uncertainty followed that goal and Plzen fashioned some more openings which prompted Amorim to ring the changes.
Changes paid off as Hojlund found himself in front of the goal after a mistake by Plzen but he shot straight at the goalkeeper. His second opportunity didn’t go begging as he tapped into an empty net instinctively after great work by Amad.
He continued to look threatening and almost got another via a beautiful Fernandes pass but the ball just evaded him. Mount was next to miss a clear-cut chance after being played in by Amad again.
Holjlund was the hero again as he gave United the lead after holding off his marker and finished past the goalkeeper to cement himself as first-choice at Old Trafford.
United missed multiple opportunities on transition in injury time to ease the scoreline pressure so the game would finish 2-1, with Hojlund making the impact off the bench.
Here’s how the players rated:
Andre Onana – 2
Had a nightmare vs Forest and that continued into this game as he looked a bit uncertain, especially on set-pieces. Summed up by his glaring error in the second half to gift Plzen the lead.
Noussair Mazraoui – 7
Had his usual faultless game where he nipped into tackles at the perfect time, skipped past people and played the right pass every time.
Matthijs de Ligt – 6.5
Plzen rarely tested the defence so the central centre-back had the easiest time of things. Played the ball well and dealt with sweeping jobs efficiently.
Lisandro Martinez – 6
Some nervous touches in the early exchanges gave way to comfort as United realised Plzen were showing next to no ambition.
Diogo Dalot – 5
Started on his favoured right foot but couldn’t beat his man on many occasions on the outside. Struggles continued here.
Tyrell Malacia – 6
More adventurous than Dalot on the opposite wing but that’s not high praise.
Bruno Fernandes – 7
United’s threatening runs and moments all had him involved but the final product was missing in the first half. He addressed that in the second with some brilliant balls.
Casemiro – 6
Settled into the game like Martinez and improved from there.
Amad – 8
Uncharacteristically made the wrong choice to spoil United’s best chance of the first half but created their best of the second by beating his man on the run from which Hojlund scored. Not many better in this team when he’s on it.
Marcus Rashford – 2
Weakest player on the pitch and the person where most of United’s attacks went to get snuffed out. Got booked for a lazy foul while tracking back. First to come off as he was teetering on the brink of a sending-off. Onana will get the criticism but this was another terrible outing for him.
Joshua Zirkzee – 4.5
Showed some strong hold-up play but his tendency to pass backward first-time for almost all his attacks takes the momentum out of the game. Clumsy at moments. There’s no striker “debate” at present.
Substitutes
Rasmus Hojlund – 8
Instinctive finish minutes a after coming on drew United level and then he went one better late into the game to finish clinically and give his team the lead. United need a traditional clinical striker and he’s much more suited to it than Zirkzee.
Mason Mount – 6.5
Instantly brought energy and invention to a lethargic United with his pressing and forward-running. Missed the chance to be the game-winner multiple times which he should have taken.
Antony – 6.5
Encouraging spell as the left wing-back as he played some nice passes inside and created chances.
Alejandro Garnacho – 6
Came on late but couldn’t get involved much. Fluffed a 3v1 opportunity by playing the wrong pass.
Manuel Ugarte – 6
Came on with Garnacho but didn’t have much impact.
Manager
Ruben Amorim – 7
Second game in a row which individual errors have left him disappointed and that’s something which will worry him. At least United no longer collapse when faced with adversity as they completed a second consecutive European comeback. That’s a huge win for him.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/OFxU48T