Ruben Amorim praises ‘good overall performance’ as Man Utd ‘improved’ to beat Viktoria Plzen

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim says his players were “aggressive” and “controlled transitions very well” in their comeback win against Viktoria Plzen.

The Red Devils came from behind to beat Czech side Viktoria Plzen 2-1 in the Europa League on Thursday.

Amorim made a few changes before the hour mark, with Rasmus Hojlund making a huge impact off the bench.

The Danish striker scored both of United’s goals to earn them three valuable points, lifting them to fifth in the league table, four points behind leaders Athletic Bilbao.

United ended Plzen’s 12-game unbeaten run at home in Europe (including qualifiers), becoming the first foreign team to win there since Barcelona did so in November 2022.

It was also the Red Devils’ first away win in Europe since beating Real Betis in March 2023.

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Amorim says his players have improved after a sluggish first half and praised those on the pitch for their reaction to going 1-0 down.

“We got better during the game,” he said. “We controlled the game in the first half, but without many chances.

“We lacked speed and movement and we didn’t control the ball because the pitch was difficult to connect with the forwards. Viktoria didn’t stand a chance either.

“In the second half we conceded an away goal, but we reacted well. We pushed the opponents into our own half and managed to score. The win is important right now and it’s good to prepare for the next game.

“The speed has improved. I told the players that we need more movement up front because they need to feel that we are a danger. We changed our game a bit and the bench players helped too. We have improved not only the way we play, but also the speed of the game.

“We are improving in some details. I controlled the transitions very well. We were aggressive when we lost the ball. We need to spend more time near the opposition goal.”

Of Hojlund, Amorim added: “He’s getting better. He is closer to the goal now. He knows better the move he has to make. He could score more tonight. but he scores, works and controls the ball better.”

United captain Bruno Fernandes praised his team-mates for coming from behind to win in the Czech Republic.

“It was a good performance overall. I think in the final third we could have kept the ball a bit more but their man marking was hard to put away. Sometimes you just have to pass and run to try and find the gaps in the back.

“In the first half we did better than in the second half when we let the game go a little bit the way they wanted, a little bit more transitional. Then we dealt with it and in the end we won.

“We want to play from the back and everyone knows that’s when 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 a goal.

“It’s not about Andre making the mistake, we don’t look at individuals here when something happens on 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 trust his qualities on the ball.

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

Match-winner Hojlund added: “It was a bit difficult there. It was very cold today and the field was a bit full, but we solved it in the second half.

“I think we didn’t play too directly in the first half. We had to play over them and behind them more because there was space to hit. Especially with the boggy ground we were talking about, if we won the second ball, you can play from there.”

Hojlund continued: “We still need more time. It is still very early. It’s about getting our routines together and getting there. But it still needs practice and time.

“I know it sounds strange, but we don’t have enough time on the training ground, so we have to train him during the games. But it keeps getting better.”