Hojlund double helps Man United to victory
Rasmus Hojlund scored twice after coming off the bench and Manchester United rallied to beat Viktoria Plzen 2-1 in the Europa League.
The Denmark striker netted in the 88th minute after collecting Bruno Fernandes’ pass off a free kick to seal the victory and put United into the top-eight of the standings. Hojlund replaced Marcus Rashford in the 56th and scored an equaliser six minutes later after Amad Diallo’s shot was deflected by goalkeeper Martin Jedlicka into his path for an easy finish.
The 21-year-old Hojlund also scored twice in the previous round, when United beat Norwegian team Bodo/Glimt 3-2, and has five goals in his six appearances in the second-tier competition.
“It feels good to have scored two goals but I am more happy with the win,” Hojlund said. “My instructions? Go out there and score two goals! Just to use my qualities, run the channels and be assertive in front of goal.”
The top eight qualify directly to the Round of 16. The teams placed No. 9 to No. 24 go into a two-legged playoff.
Tottenham continued to show inconsistent form in a 1-1 draw at Rangers, leaving the north London team in ninth place. The Scottish side is eighth. Substitute Dejan Kulusevski was fed by fellow substitute Dominic Solanke to score 15 minutes before time and salvage a point at Ibrox Stadium. Spurs were held 2-2 at home by Roma in the previous round and lost 3-2 to Galatasaray before.
Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and veteran Pedro Rodriguez scored one each for Lazio in the second half to defeat Ajax 3-1 in Amsterdam and move to the top of the standings with 16 points from six games.
