Højlund's European habit brings a big win

Ruben Amorim made several mistakes with his starting XI – then put them right

SIX ASIDES Europa League: Victoria Plzen 1, United 2

The ground was tiny, the game only medium-sized, but the win was a big one. United badly needed to turn things round after back-to-back defeats at the hands of Arsenal (understandable, if exasperating) and Nottingham Forest (unacceptable, and even more exasperating). They badly needed an away win after picking up only one all season, at Southampton, and none on the continent since Real Betis in March 2023. They badly needed to get back to the good vibes of Ruben Amorim’s honeymoon period, which had come to an abrupt end at the Emirates. And they needed the three points to go into the top eight of the Europa League, a position which, if they can sustain it, will spare them the play-offs and two extra midweek games in February.

For the first hour in Plzen they showed no improvement. United did dominate possession, but made so little use of it that you felt they’d be more effective playing on the counter. Joshua Zirkzee, at centre-forward, was unrecognisable from his previous start, against Everton. Then he had scored twice; now he gave the ball away 16 times in the first half. Marcus Rashford was only slightly better and even Amad was disappointing, wasting a golden opportunity with a pass to Rashford that came too late and went too wide.

Amorim was at fault too. He stuck with his policy of making even more changes than necessary. He risked chaos at set pieces again by leaving out Harry Maguire. He continued to ostracise Christian Eriksen, whose classy passing might have made all the difference. He kept Amad in the XI, but gave him a new role as one of the two No 10s. He was over-cautious, picking a pair of full-backs as wing-backs, rather than one full-back and one winger. And he showed no awareness of his strikers’ habitual strengths. Rasmus Højlund is United’s go-to goalscorer against continental defences, with eight goals in 11 games before this one. Rashford has become less productive in Europe while remaining United’s best bet in a big league game at 4.30 on a Sunday afternoon. So this was a no-brainer: start Højlund at Plzen, save Rashford for the derby. Even André Onana’s latest brainstorm fitted into a pattern: he was making blunders like that a year ago in the Champions League.

Amorim deserves credit, though, for acknowledging his mistakes. He brought Hojlund on just before the hour, hooking Rashford rather than Zirkzee, perhaps because Rashford had just come close to a second yellow card. Within five minutes, Amorim had recognised that Zirkzee wasn’t helping, sent on Mason Mount and replaced Tyrell Malacia with Antony, so the wing-backs were now half-attacking. United scored almost immediately with Antony having a hand in a rapid move that was made by Amad’s deft touch in the box. The goal, predictably, went to Hojlund.

Twenty minutes later Amorim at last went on the attack, replacing the defensive wing-back (Diogo Dalot) with a winger (Alejandro Garnacho). The game was still heading for a draw until the 88th minute, when United had a stroke of luck. A random handball – in fact, as a replay showed, two or three handballs by the same player, Prince Adu – presented them with a free kick 35 yards out. Bruno Fernandes took it and sprang a surprise by passing along the ground to Højlund. It was a vertical ball but a lateral thought. Hojlund made superb use of it, holding off his marker and lashing a low shot into the far corner. There’s something about a European night that makes him more confident, more clinical. He just needs to think twice about the new celebration in which he mimes a throat being cut. It leaves a bad taste, and even at 21 he should be old enough to see that.

Amorim had profited by tacitly acknowledging another mistake. Against Forest, as United chased an equaliser, he had taken Fernandes off. You could see why – he wanted to keep him fresh for Plzen and the derby – but that instinct was surely outweighed by Fernandes’ special ability to make things happen. He had just shown it with a fine goal, from a move he had started himself. His engine is just phenomenal. It was this that stood out last night and not just with that last-ditch free kick. He should have had an assist for a Højlund goal a few minutes earlier. Fernandes was on the left wing, going nowhere, with little room for manoeuvre. He didn't have time to get his head up, so he just hit a no-look ball with his left foot that went exactly where it he would have put it if he’d looked, scudding right across the six-yard box. Højlund wasn't expecting it (nor was anybody else) and hadn't gambled on it as a more experienced poacher might. Fernandes, for all his reflex moaning and scattergun passing, is still the United player most likely to dig the manager out of a hole.

Tim de Lisle is the editor of United Writing and a sportswriter for The Guardian. If you’re on Bluesky, do follow him.