Hojlund scores twice for Manchester United to beat Viktoria Plzen 2-1 in Europa League

Rasmus Hojlund scored twice after coming off the bench and Manchester United rallied to beat Viktoria Plzen 2-1 in the Europa League
Manchester United's Rasmus Hojlund, left, celebrates after scoring during the Europa League soccer match between Viktoria Plzen and Manchester United at the Doosan Arena in Plzen, Czech Republic, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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Manchester United's Rasmus Hojlund, left, celebrates after scoring during the Europa League soccer match between Viktoria Plzen and Manchester United at the Doosan Arena in Plzen, Czech Republic, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Rasmus Hojlund scored twice after coming off the bench and Manchester United rallied to beat Viktoria Plzen 2-1 in the Europa League on Thursday.

The Denmark striker netted in the 88th minute after collecting Bruno Fernandes' pass off a free kick to seal the victory.

Hojlund replaced Marcus Rashford in the 56th and scored an equalizer six minutes later after Amad Diallo's shot was deflected by goalkeeper Martin Jedlička 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.

Ahead of the late games, United moved to fifth place in the Europa League. It has 12 points from six games after three wins and three draws.

Matěj Vydra, who previously played for Burnley and Watford, opened the scoring three minutes into the second half.

Among other early results, substitute Sergio Peña equalized in stoppage time for Malmö to hold unbeaten Galatasaray 2-2, and 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 when his team was losing 2-0.

Among other games later Thursday, Rangers host Tottenham.

Conference League

A youthful Chelsea lineup made the most of a long trip to Kazakhstan by beating Astana 3-1 on Thursday 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 Kazakh capital.

Guiu, who joined Chelsea from Barcelona this summer, has scored three in the competition.

Renato Veiga, who is 21, headed home the third off a corner 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.

In another early game, Swedish team Djurgarden beat Vikingur 2-1 in Iceland.

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Manchester United's Rasmus Hojlund, right, celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the Europa League soccer match between Viktoria Plzen and Manchester United at the Doosan Arena in Plzen, Czech Republic, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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Manchester United's Rasmus Hojlund, right, challenges for the ball with Plzen's Sampson Dweh during the Europa League soccer match between Viktoria Plzen and Manchester United at the Doosan Arena in Plzen, Czech Republic, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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Plzen's Matej Vydra celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the Europa League soccer match between Viktoria Plzen and Manchester United at the Doosan Arena in Plzen, Czech Republic, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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Plzen's Matej Vydra, top left, celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the Europa League soccer match between Viktoria Plzen and Manchester United at the Doosan Arena in Plzen, Czech Republic, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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Chelsea's Joshua Acheampong holds the ball during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Astana and Chelsea at the Almaty Ortalyk stadium in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo)

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Chelsea's Marc Guiu, left, fights for the ball with Astana's Alexandr Marochkin during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Astana and Chelsea at the Almaty Ortalyk stadium in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo)

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Roma's Saud Abdulhamid celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Europa League Soccer match between Roma and Braga at Rome's Olympic stadium, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse via AP)

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Braga's goalkeeper Matheus Magalhaes sees the red card after deflecting the ball with his arm outside the penalty box during the Europa League Soccer match between Roma and Braga at Rome's Olympic stadium, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

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Roma's Mats Hummels sees his header saved by Braga's goalkeeper Matheus Magalhaes during the Europa League Soccer match between Roma and Braga at Rome's Olympic stadium, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

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Galatasaray goalkeeper Fernando Muslera dives to reach the ball during the Europa League opening phase soccer match between Malmo FF and Galatasaray SK at the Malmo New Stadium in Malmo, Sweden, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Andreas Hillergren/TT News Agency via AP)

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Malmö's Otto Rosengren (left) is challenged by Galatasaray's Lucas Torreira during the Europa League opening phase soccer match between Malmo FF and Galatasaray SK at the Malmo New Stadium in Malmo, Sweden, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Andreas Hillergren/TT News Agency via AP)

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Galatasaray's Elias Jelert celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the Europa League opening phase soccer match between Malmo FF and Galatasaray SK at the Malmo New Stadium in Malmo, Sweden, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Andreas Hillergren/TT News Agency via AP)

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Hoffenheim's Max Moerstadt and Bucharest's Joyskim Dawa, rightm, in action during the Europa League opening phase soccer match between TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and FCSB Bucharest at PreZero Arena, Sinsheim, Germany, Thursday Dec. 12 2024. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

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Hoffenheim's Tom Bischof, third from left, celebrates with teammates after scoring during the German Bundesliga soccer match between TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and SC Freiburg at the PreZero Arena, in Sinsheim, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

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PAOK's Fedor Chalov, right, celebrates after scoring the third goal against Ferencvaros during the Europa League opening phase soccer match between PAOK and Ferencvaros at Toumpa stadium, in Thessaloniki, Greece, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

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PAOK players celebrate a goal against Ferencvaros during the Europa League opening phase soccer match between PAOK and Ferencvaros at Toumpa stadium, in Thessaloniki, Greece, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

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PAOK players celebrate their win against Ferencvaros after the end of the Europa League opening phase soccer match between PAOK and Ferencvaros at Toumpa stadium, in Thessaloniki, Greece, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

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Fiorentina's Albert Gudmundsson scores his side's seventh goal during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Fiorentina and LASK at the Artemio Franchi Stadium in Florence, Italy, Thursday Dec. 12, 2024. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

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The screen shows the score during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Fiorentina and LASK at the Artemio Franchi Stadium in Florence, Italy, Thursday Dec. 12, 2024. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

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Fiorentina's Albert Gudmundsson, centre right, celebrates with teammates after scroing his side's seventh goal during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Fiorentina and LASK at the Artemio Franchi Stadium in Florence, Italy, Thursday Dec. 12, 2024. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

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