Rasmus Hojlund fired Manchester United to a late 2-1 win at Viktoria Plzen in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, while Tottenham were held to a stalemate at Rangers.
Ruben Amorim’s United side came from behind to beat the Czech side thanks to a second-half brace by Danish striker Hojlund, they now sit seventh in the league phase standings.
“The win is important at the moment and it’s good to prepare for the next game,” Amorim told TNT Sports.
Photo: EPA-EFE
A top-eight finish would see United qualify automatically for the round of 16, while finishing ninth to 24th would earn them a playoff tie to reach that stage.
Matej Vydra opened the scoring three minutes after half-time to stun United, before substitute Hojlund scored twice in the last half-hour to seize a vital three points for the English club.
The winner came two minutes from time when Bruno Fernandes cleverly slipped a free-kick into the 21-year-old’s feet and he held off a defender before slipping home.
Photo: Reuters
Elsewhere in the Europa League, Spurs drew 1-1 with Rangers in Glasgow.
The hosts sit in the final automatic qualification spot with Spurs one place below them, but both are level on 11 points.
A draw somewhat eases the pressure on Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou, after his side went into the match with just one win in their past seven outings in all competitions.
Rangers took the lead two minutes after the interval when Moroccan striker Hamza Igamane continued his fine start to life in Glasgow by netting his fourth goal in as many European outings this season.
Rangers captain James Tavernier bent an excellent inswinging pass from the right flank beyond the Spurs defense and into the path of Igamane who finished unerringly at the far post.
Spurs substitutes Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski combined to bring the English side level with a quarter of an hour remaining, the Swede wrong-footing the goalkeeper with a cool finish from just inside the box.
Fraser Forster made a vital save from Cyriel Dessers to keep Spurs level in the last 10 minutes, and moments later the Rangers striker had a goal disallowed for offside.
Lazio top the standings with 16 points — joint with Athletic Bilbao — after beating Ajax 3-1 in Amsterdam to book their spot in the knock-out stages.
Lyon beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 to move up to fourth — one place above the in-form German Bundesliga club.
Anderlecht overcame Slavia Prague 2-1 in the Czech capital to jump to third in the standings.
CONFERENCE LEAGUE
A 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. The win all but guarantees the West London side a top-eight finish in the league phase, which would ensure automatic qualification to the round-of-16.
“It was a solid performance. We knew it was quite cold. We tried to adapt quickly. The players did fantastically with the weather conditions and the long journey yesterday,” Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said.
Chelsea sit top of the standings on 15 points, two ahead of Vitoria Guimaraes who won 4-1 at Swiss side St Gallen.
Chelsea wrapped up the points in the first half through goals from Marc Guiu and Renato Veiga.
Marin Tomasov pulled one back for the hosts on the stroke of half-time, but Maresca’s side rarely looked troubled in the second half as they closed out the win.
Spanish teenager Guiu gave Chelsea the perfect start by netting a brace inside the opening 20 minutes, bringing his tally in Europe to three goals in five appearances this season.
Neto was the only player to remain from the squad that beat Tottenham 4-3 on Sunday to move to second in the English Premier League.
Last year’s defeated finalists Fiorentina won 7-0 at home to Austria’s LASK Linz as they ensured progression to the knockout stages.
Additional reporting by AP and staff writer
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