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Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has revealed that he told his players to offer more movement in the final third during their 2-1 comeback Europa League victory over Viktoria Plzen.
Plzen shed first blood moments after the restart courtesy of Matej Vydra. An Andre Onana pass was intercepted before the ball was squared to Vydra, who made no mistake from close range.
Before the hour-mark, Amorim looked to his bench and brought on Rasmus Hojlund as a replacement for the ineffective Marcus Rashford.
Hojlund made an immediate impact on the match, slotting the ball in after some brilliant play by Amad Diallo.
In the closing moments of the match, Bruno Fernandes and Hojlund executed a brilliant free-kick routine, allowing the Danish striker to lose his marker and fire home, securing all three points for United.
The Red Devils have moved to fifth place in the Europa League standings, level on points with Galatasaray who are fourth.
After the match, Amorim spoke to TNT Sports [via BBC] and gave his verdict on the match.
“We improved during the game. We controlled the game in the first half, but without any great chances. We lacked speed and movement and we didn’t control the ball because the pitch was difficult to make the connections with the strikers.”
“Viktoria didn’t have chances either.”
“In the second half, we gave a goal away but we reacted well. We pushed the opponents to their own half and we managed to score. The win is important at the moment and it’s good to prepare for the next game.”
On improvement in the second half, Amorim remarked, “The speed improved. I told the players we need more movement in front because they have to feel we are a danger.”
“We changed a little bit of our game and the players from the bench also helped. We improved not just the way we play, but also the speed of the game.”
On Hojlund, Amorim stated, “He is improving. He is more near the goal now. He knows better the movement he has to do. He could score more this evening. but he is scoring, working and controlling the ball better.”
Another player Amorim spoke about was Amad.
He said about the Ivorian forward, “He can be a good player in that position. We need left-footed players in this team to play that role. In the first half, he was coming for the ball too much. He need to play near the opisthion defence more. He will improve in the future for sure.”
Amorim added, “We are improving 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 opposition goal.”
United return to action on Sunday when they make their way to the Etihad to face Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
Featured image Gabriel Kuchta via Getty Images
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