Rasmus Hojlund celebrates his winner against Viktoria Plzen
Rasmus Hojlund revealed his free-kick routine with Bruno Fernandes that led to Manchester United's winner against Viktoria Plzen wasn't pre-planned.
But the Dane said he made the run to offer a pass for Fernandes because he had seen the captain play a similar pass for Anthony Martial when they combined for United.
There were a couple of minutes left on the clock in the Czech Republic when Fernandes' slide-rule pass found Hojlund, who was able to spin his marker and fire in his second of the game. His second-half introduction turned the game in United's favour, with the striker equalising on 62 minutes after good work from Amad.
His winner was very smartly taken and although it looked like something that had been worked on at the training ground, Hojlund revealed it had all been instinctive.
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“I’ve seen Bruno do that before, I remember a goal with Anthony Martial when Bruno did the chip for him and I just thought I had a good opportunity because I’m strong and I could spin him [my marker] and finish," Hojlund told TNT Sports.
Hojlund came off the bench on 56 minutes with United trailing and played a key role in turning the game around, but he also revealed that his ability to run in behind and stretch the play was crucial to change the dynamics from the first half.
“It was a bit difficult, very cold today, difficult circumstances, the pitch was a bit boggy. We had to deal with it and we solved it in the second half," he said.
“I think we didn't play too direct in the first half. We needed to play a bit more over them and behind them because there was a lot of space to run into. Especially with the pitch, if you win those second balls, you can play from there."
The win was crucial for United's chances of finishing in the top eight of the Europa League league phase and also ended a run of two defeats in a row under Ruben Amorim.
Hojlund believes the squad are still learning the head coach's 3-4-3 system and that games are proving more useful than training sessions for taking on board those ideas.
“We still need more time, it’s still very early days, it’s about getting the routines together and it's getting under the skin now," he said.
"But it still needs a lot of practice and a lot of time, we don’t have a lot of sessions so we have to train it during matches. I know it sounds a bit off, but it’s how you learn it best."