Rasmus Hojlund cut a frustrated figure in the aftermath of Manchester United’s 2-1 victory over Viktoria Plzen, despite scoring a brace.
The 21-year-old forward was dropped for Thursday night’s Europa League clash against Plzen but after replacing Marcus Rashford in the 56th minute, he made up for lost time.
After netting just after the hour mark, Hojlund scored the winner after a well-worked free-kick from captain Bruno Fernandes.
The Dane could have grabbed his hat-trick at the Doosan Arena but Amad Diallo, who was once again one of United‘s standout performers, failed to cross the ball in the dying embers.
Image credit: TNT Sports
Moments later, referee Marian Barbu blew for full-time but clearly still angry at an incident during the game, Hojlund could be seen expressing his frustration on the pitch.
There were suggestions that Hojlund was still angry with Amad for not passing in the final moments, while others pointed at the referee, who failed to award a penalty after Hojlund was hacked down late on.
“Rasmus is still angry at Amad after the FT whistle because of not passing the ball to him, which would have completed his hattrick,” said X user TheEuropeanLad.
Another fan commented: “He was angry with the ref not Amad. Please don’t set Amad up for drags please.”
Ahead of Thursday night’s game in the Czech Republic, Ruben Amorim explained why Amad would start in a more attacking position after playing the last few games at wing-back.
“We are trying to find out what is the best position for every player,” he told MUTV.
“Today we are going to see Amad a little bit further up on the pitch and we are learning during games, so we need to face different opponents with different characteristics and also to improve our squad.
“So our focus is on that, using the characteristics and qualities of our players to win games. The only problem is I would love to train with everybody but it’s great news [having an almost fully fit squad].
“You saw in our past, not with me but with the last coach, it was a big problem, so we have to be really careful when they return from injuries and that’s a very good thing for us during this context.
“We are ready and you never know which player is going to be the most important: the one who starts or the one who will go onto the pitch during the game. We just want to win, we are one team, and we are prepared for the game.”
He added: “Just run and fight for the ball, it’s quite simple. Our fans love that and we need to put that into our DNA. That is really important and we also have to have quality during the game.
“We will try to combine two things to win the game because if we fight the same way as the opponent fights, we have better players and we should win the game.”
Thoughts on United’s performance against Plzen? Let us know in the comments.