Rasmus Hojlund beats Wayne Rooney and Marcus Rashford in epic feat as star saves Man United in Europa League
Rasmus Hojlund found himself in elite company thanks to his goal against Viktoria Plzen before going one better than the rest later in the match.
The Danish striker canceled Matej Vydra's first goal in manchester unitedof the Europa League match against their Czech rivals on Thursday, taking advantage of the rebound after Plzen goalkeeper Martin Jedlicka saved a shot from Amad Diallo.
He then scored in the 88th minute to seal a 2-1 victory for Ruben AmorimThe men.
Bruno Fernandes took a free kick from 40 meters to Hojlund's feet.
The Dane showed off his physical prowess to contain his marker and control the pass with his left foot before crashing the ball.
Hojlund's two goals against Viktoria Plzen were his ninth and tenth in European competition since joined the red devils in August last year for £72 million.
Five of them came in the space of six Champions League games last season, and the other five came in United's Europa League campaign this season.
With a total of ten, it means he has scored more goals for United in European competitions aged 21 or younger than Mark Rashford and Wayne Rooneywho scored nine times.
Hojlund has also needed just 12 European appearances to reach double figures for the Red Devils.
However, he still has some way to go to match the feats of Rooney and Rashford.
Throughout his 13 highly successful seasons at Old Trafford, Rooney made 98 European appearances for United in the Champions League and Europa League.
In that time, he scored 36 goals and won Champions League and Europa League winners' medals in 2007/08 and 2016/17 respectively.
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As for Rashford, he has 26 goals to his name in 74 European matches.
Hojlund's double in the second half was much needed for United and also for Amorim.
Had Vydra remained the only name on the scoresheet, it would have been the first time the Red Devils coach had lost three games in a row in his coaching career.
But Hojlund helped avoid potential embarrassment for Amorim with his two goals.
Not only that, but the victory put Amorim himself on a path that only two United managers have traveled.
United's 2-1 victory over Viktoria Plzen meant Amorim became only the third Red Devils manager to win his first two games in a major European competition.
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Only Sir Alex Ferguson and Matt Busby had previously achieved this sensational feat.
The victory helped United move up to fifth place in the Europa League table, where the top eight automatically qualify for the next round.
But Amorim and his team must quickly return their focus to the Premier League as the derby against Manchester City awaits them on Sunday.
United will be licking their lips as they face a wounded City side, who lost 2-0 to Juventus on Wednesday.
Pep Guardiola's side have won just once in their last 10 matches and Amorim would no doubt love to extend that tally to an 11th match.
