Hojlund is adamant that Manchester United’s performances will improve under Amorim

Manchester United hero Rasmus Hojlund is confident that his performances will improve when he spends more time on the training pitch with Ruben Amorim.

Hojlund came off the bench tonight to score twice in the last half hour to help United to a 2-1 Europa League win at Viktoria Plzen after goalkeeper Andre Onana gifted the Czech hosts their first goal.

The result boosted United’s chances of an automatic qualification spot for the knockout stages, but it was another largely uninspiring display that, for a long time, raised more questions than answers.

United’s passing was sloppy, Onana made another basic error as Marcus Rashford was hauled down before being sent off.

Rashford’s withdrawal for Hojlund was a turning point in the game with United using the big Dane as the focal point he had previously lacked.

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It’s still early – Hojlund

Asked to assess United’s progress under their new Portuguese boss, Hojlund told TNT Sports: “We still need more time. It’s still early. It’s about aligning our routines and achieving a goal. But it still needs practice and time. I know it sounds strange, but we don’t have enough time in training, so we have to train him during the games. But it keeps getting better and better.”

The conditions at the Doosan Arena were not conducive to attracting fluid football and both teams struggled, particularly in a poor first 45 minutes.

“It was a little difficult there. Today it was very cold, and the pitch was a bit swampy, but we solved it in the second half,” added Hojlund.

“I don’t think we played too directly in the first half. We should have played more over and behind them because there was room to run. Especially with the swampy pitch I was talking about, if we win the second ball, you can play from there.”

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Onana’s mistakes are starting to become a problem for United

Onana’s form will worry Amor, with the Cameroonian also responsible for two of Nottingham Forest’s three goals at Old Trafford on Saturday.

However, United captain Bruno Fernandes was not about to criticize Onana when asked about him later.

Fernandes said: “We want to play from the back and everyone knows that then we have to make the right decision on the pitch. Andre (Onana) thought Matta (De Ligt) might get to the ball, but he missed and they scored.

“It’s not about Andre who made a mistake, we don’t look at individuals here when something happens from the wrong side. We have great confidence in him. He knows he made a mistake because he is a smart guy, he will help us many times and we believe in his qualities.

“Mistakes are part of football. If they don’t happen, the goals don’t happen. But we did well to show resilience to come back and get the win.”

Amorim satisfied with United’s progress

Amorim attributed the win to more urgency after halftime. He said: “The speed has improved. I told the players that we need more movement up front because they have to feel that we are a danger. We changed our game a little, and the players from the bench also helped. We have improved not only the way we play, but also the speed of the game.

“We are making progress in some details. We controlled the transitions very well. We were aggressive when we lost the ball. We need to spend more time near the opponent’s goal.”