Amad Diallo looks to have played down his bust-up with Rasmus Hojlund as Manchester United prepare to face rivals Manchester City this weekend.
The Red Devils’ hard-fought 2-1 come-from-behind win over Czech side Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday night was overshadowed by a heated row that occurred between the two players following the full-time whistle at Doosan Arena.
Amad and Hojlund engaged in an animated discussion on the pitch after both players appeared to fail to play in the other during promising attacks that took place just seconds apart late in second-half stoppage time.
The argument seemed to be quickly defused and new United boss Ruben Amorim said afterwards that he welcomed such incidents as healthy for his developing team as they bid to improve.
Friends again: There appears to be no lingering fallout from the row between Manchester United duo Amad Diallo and Rasmus Hojlund
REUTERS
"Yes (I was aware of that), and for me it's perfect," the Portuguese said of the bust-up between Amad and Hojlund, the latter of whom scored twice off the bench to deliver United’s third Europa League win in a row after Matej Vydra had opened the scoring for Plzen.
"You know, 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. We need to feel something and that is important.”
He added: "That is clear [how much both players care]. When you don't care, you don't do nothing. When you care, you fight with your brother, with your father, with your mother. For me, it's a very good sign.
"It's a normal thing. I think it's a positive thing, a healthy thing, so I let the players and the captain to calm down the things.
"If I see it is too much, I will go inside the dressing room. But it's their space, they have to talk, to fight and, again, for me it's a very important thing."
Both Amad and Hojlund appeared to stay quiet on their row after the game, but the former has now reached out on Instagram by posting a picture of the duo from the game on his stories and tagging his team-mate along with a heart emoji.
That would seem to suggest that all is well between the pair before they both hope to start on Sunday in the latest instalment of the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium in which Amorim will hope to avoid a third straight Premier League defeat and inflict more misery on Pep Guardiola and crisis-stricken City, who have won just one and lost seven of their last 10 matches across all competitions.
But United will have to buck a trend of three consecutive defeats at the home of their rivals, having having lost five of the last six Manchester derbies in total.