Man Utd team-mates in furious on-pitch argument at final whistle after Plzen win… but Amorim says it’s ‘perfect’
MANCHESTER UNITED stars Rasmus Hojlund and Amad Diallo were involved in a furious row after full-time in Plzen.
But new Red Devils boss Ruben Amorim hailed the public bust-up as a “very good sign”.
The warring United pair confronted each other at the final whistle of their comeback Europa League victory.
Substitute Hojlund, 21, was United’s game-winning hero but was left raging as he accused Amad of wrecking his chance at a first club hat-trick by refusing to pass to him when in front of goal deep into injury time.
While Amad was also angry that Hojlund did something similar moments before.
But United boss Amorim said: “It’s a positive thing, a healthy thing, perfect. In this moment, we need to feel something, if we need to fight each other it’s like a family, for me it’s a very, very good sign.
“When you don’t care, you do nothing, when you care, you fight with your brother, with your father, with your mother.
“It’s a normal thing, so I leave it to the players and captain to calm things down.
“If it’s too much I will go inside the dressing room. But it’s their space, they have to talk, to fight — it’s very important.
“I am happy we win the game and still fight each other, that is a very good thing.
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“When you win and you fight with your team-mate because you want to score one more. It’s a very good day for us.”
Matej Vydra’s goal on 48 minutes fired Viktoria Plzen 1-0 up after an error by keeper Andre Onana, when his pass to Matthijs de Ligt was intercepted.
But captain Bruno Fernandes said: “He knows he made a mistake because he is a clever guy, he is going to help us many times and we trust his qualities on the ball.
“Mistakes are part of football. If they don’t happen then goals don’t happen.
“But we did well to show the resilience to come back and find the victory.
“We want to play from the back and everyone knows that, then we have to make the right decision on the pitch.
It’s a positive thing, a healthy thing, perfect. In this moment, we need to feel something, if we need to fight each other it’s like a family, for me it’s a very, very good sign.
Ruben Amorim
“Andre thought that Matta could get on the ball but he missed it and they scored a goal.
“It is not about Andre making the mistake, we don’t look at individuals when something happens on the wrong side. We have huge belief in him.”
Hojlund dug the team out of trouble with goals in the 62nd and 88th minutes — the winner after a clever free-kick from Fernandes found him.
Man Utd ratings vs Plzen as Hojlund and Amad spare Onana's blushes are horror show
ANDRE ONANA had his blushes spared by Rasmus Hojlund as Manchester United fought back to win against Viktoria Plzen.
Here’s how SunSport’s Henry Tomlinson rated the Red Devils stars…
Andre Onana – 4
It was a very shaky start to the game in which Onana hurt Casemiro and failed to deal with the host’s crosses convincingly.
He made a massive error that led to Plzen taking the lead with his poor pass, leaving his defenders with no chance of bailing him out.
Diogo Dalot – 6
Dalot made some decent runs forward to join in with the attacks.
Defensively was fairly solid and was not often caught out.
Noussair Mazraoui – 6
Playing a bit more central, Mazraoui used his pace well to help out at the back.
Matthijs de Ligt – 6
He was sold short by Onana’s pass that led to the opener but otherwise was fine during the 90 minutes.
Lisandro Martinez – 6
Made himself available when Man United got forward but struggled with the physicality of the Plzen attackers.
Tyrell Malacia – 6
He offered very little going forward in the wing-back role as he struggled to combine with Marcus Rashford.
Casemiro – 6
He moved the ball forward when he could and recovered from an early blow from Onana.
Bruno Fernandes – 7
He was lucky to have escaped an early yellow card. Stung the goalkeeper’s gloves in the first half with a good effort.
His quick thinking set up Rasmus Hojlund to fire in a late winner.
Amad Diallo – 8
Diallo was a rare bright spark in Man United’s attack against Plzen.
It was his run that led to the equaliser, and he used his pace and skill to get past his defender.
Marcus Rashford – 4
Rashford was often loose on the ball and surrendered possession in the attacking third.
He received the first booking of the game for a needless foul and was lucky not to be sent off in the second half before being hooked by Ruben Amorim.
Joshua Zirkzee – 6
Took on the centre-forward role well, held the ball up and linked up play well enough.
Subs
Rasmus Hojlund 55′ – 8
Hojlund showed his striker instincts by being in the right position to grab Man United’s equaliser.
He then latched onto Fernandes’ clever pass to score the winner.
Antony 60′ – 6
He was involved in the equaliser by linking up with Diallo.
Mason Mount 60′ – 7
Made a positive impact after coming on and was unlucky not to score as he was denied twice by the goalkeeper after coming into the action.
Alejandro Garnacho 80′ – N/A
Failed to make a positive impact on his short spell on the pitch.
Manuel Ugarte 80′ – N/A
He slotted into the midfield as he replaced Casemiro late on.
The striker said: “I have watched Bruno do that before. I remember a goal with Anthony Martial when he did the chip for him.
“I thought I had a good opportunity because I am strong, I could push the defender, spin him and finish.
“We didn’t play too direct in the first half. We needed to play over them and behind them more because there was space to run into. Especially with the boggy pitch, if we won the second balls, you can play from there.”
Asked about progress under Amorim, Hojlund added: “It’s early days. I know it sounds odd but we don’t get enough time on the training ground, so we have to train during the matches. But it’s getting better and better.”