LONDON — 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
equalizer 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 Bodø/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.”
United had come off two straight losses in the English
Premier League, 2-0 away to Arsenal, and 3-2 at Old Trafford to Nottingham
Forest that left the club 13th and eight points adrift of the top four as
progress looked slow under new coach Ruben Amorim.
Matej Vydra, who previously played for Burnley and Watford,
opened the scoring three minutes into the second half.
United has 12 points from six games after three wins and
three draws in Europa League play — good enough for seventh place.
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. The draw came after losing 4-3 to Chelsea
in the Premier League on Sunday.
Hamza Igamane netted for Rangers at the start of the second
half off a cross from James Tavernier in what was a return to Glasgow for Spurs
coach Ange Postecoglou, who led Celtic for two seasons.
Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and veteran Pedro Rodríguez 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. Bilbao is level on
points but in second on goal difference.
Anderlecht beat Slavia 2-1 in Prague to move into third
place.
Lyon jumped to fourth by beating Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2.
The German team is fifth.
Among other results, substitute Sergio Peña equalized in
stoppage time for Malmö to hold unbeaten Galatasaray 2-2. The Turkish club is
sixth in the standings. PAOK routed Ferencvaros 5-0.
Roma showed signs of improvement by beating Braga 3-0 for a
second straight victory that came after the struggling club earned its first
win under new coach Claudio Ranieri, 4-1 over visiting Lecce in Serie A.
Braga goalkeeper Matheus received a red card in the 68th
with the score 2-0.
Conference LeagueA youthful Chelsea lineup made the most of
a long trip to Kazakhstan by beating Astana 3-1 to stay perfect in the UEFA
Conference League.
Marc Guiu struck twice within five minutes early in the
first half. The 18-year-old forward opened the scoring on a solo effort in the
14th and added his second after meeting a cross from Pedro Neto from the right
in freezing conditions in the city of Almaty.
Guiu, who joined Chelsea from Barcelona this summer, has
scored three in the competition.
Renato Veiga, who is 21, headed home the third before Marin
Tomasov scored for the hosts late in the first half.
Neto was the only player to remain from the squad that beat
Tottenham 4-3 on Sunday to move to second in the Premier League.
Chelsea has 15 points atop the standings of third-tier
competition with one more game to play in the league phase.
Fiorentina crushed LASK 7-0 and Legia Warsaw lost 2-1 at
home to Lugano. Swedish team Djurgarden beat Vikingur 2-1 in Iceland.
