Ruben Amorim said Rasmus Hojlund is reaping the benefits of playing more close to goal after his double helped Manchester United recover to beat Viktoria Plzen 2-1 in the Europa League.
A terrible mistake from Andre Onana allowed Matej Vydra to open the scoring after 48 minutes in Thursday's match at the Doosan Arena.
But Danish striker Hojlund scored twice to earn the Red Devils' three points and has now scored five times since Amorim took charge at Old Trafford – four of which have come in Europe.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Amorim said of Hojlund: “He is improving. He is closer to the goal now. He knows better what moves to make.”
“He could score more tonight, but he scores, works and controls the ball better.”
United have now won three, lost two and drawn one of Amorim's six games, two of which came in the Europa League.
Rasmus to the rescue.#MUFC || #UEL pic.twitter.com/7rwbs8gDy5
– Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 12, 2024
Amorim is confident he has seen enough from his side to see signs of progress in the early stages of his term.
“We are improving on some details. We have controlled the transitions very well,” he added.
“We were aggressive when we lost the ball. We need to spend more time near the opponent's goal.”
Amorim thought his side looked particularly strong in the second half, especially with the speed at which they moved the ball.
“The speed improved. I told the players that we need more movement up front because they need to feel like we are a threat
“We've changed our game a bit and the players from the bench have helped too. We've not only improved the way we play, but also the speed of the game.”
“We improved during the match. We controlled the match in the first half, but without big chances. We lacked speed and movement and we had no control over the ball because the pitch was difficult to make the connections with the attackers. Viktoria did not.” don't have any chances either.
“We gave away a goal in the second half, but we responded well. We pushed the opponents into our own half and managed to score. The win is important at the moment and it is good to prepare for the next match. “
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