Rasmus Hojlund rescued Manchester United once again as Ruben Amorim’s side came from behind to claim their first European away win in 21 months at the Doosan Arena.
Hojlund scored twice against Bodo/Glimt at Old Trafford a fortnight ago to give United the victory, and the Dane came off the bench to do the same here and complete a comeback after another blunder by goalkeeper Andre Onana.
An insipid game of football at least saw United rise to fifth in the Europa League table as they look to finish in the top eight to avoid a play-off later in the season. But they go into the Manchester derby at the Etihad competing with City for the team that is in the worst form at the moment.
It has been a sobering eight days for Amorim, who has seen an unbeaten start ended by defeats to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest, and now this unconvincing victory over the Czechs. It was United’s first win in Europe since beating Real Betis in Spain in March 2023.
Czech midfielder Pavel Sulc had warned beforehand that Viktoria would make it “unpleasant” for United and that was one word to describe a turgid first half of football.
Amorim looked frustrated throughout, squatting on the touchline and shaking his head at regular intervals as United worked in the freezing conditions against an average opposition.
Manchester United returned to winning ways after beating Viktoria Plzen 2-1 on Thursday.
Rasmus Hojlund scored twice, after United fell behind, to seal three points for his team.
Hojlund scored from close range for his second goal to close out the victory.
The United manager had warned about Viktoria’s unbeaten record at home in Europe this season, but it consisted of wins over little-known Ukrainians Kryvbas and Heart of Midlothian in the play-offs to reach the league stage of this competition, followed by from a draw with Ludogorets and a more respectable victory over Real Sociedad last month.
Joshua Zirkzee, chosen to lead the attack, bothered Amorim more than any other player in a white United shirt. The Dutchman received a reprimand from his manager for giving the ball away early on, and had done so 15 more times before the half-time whistle blew.
United spent much of the warm-up practicing defensive set pieces after conceding three corners in defeats to Arsenal and Forest, but here again looked shaky.
Onana came out to claim an early free kick, but misjudged it and only managed to hit Casemiro, who needed treatment. Daniel Vasulin then attacked a clearance by the Cameroonian goalkeeper who was stumbling in front of the goal.
United were no better at the other end as Zirkzee struggled to spark their attack. Amad Diallo had a chance on the break but Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes raised their arms in the air as the little Ivorian ignored Fernandes’ run through the middle, cleared towards goal, and instead took the wrong option towards Rashford.
Fernandes managed United’s only notable effort before the break when he forced a comfortable save from Martin Jedlicka from 25 yards, before Cheick Souare ended a completely forgettable first half by going wide from the edge of the area.
When the goal finally came three minutes into the restart, it was no surprise that it came from a mistake. Onana was again at fault, five days after a costly error gave Morgan Gibbs-White a goal against Forest.
This time, the goalkeeper received a back pass from Lisandro Martínez and considered his options on what to do next. He was about to pass the ball short to Matthijs De Ligt, but thought better of it because there were two Viktoria players nearby. Onana then inexplicably stepped up with the pass and Sulc stole to win the ball and square it for Matej Vydra to score into an empty net.
Plzen took the lead thanks to Matej Vydra after taking advantage of an error by André Onana.
However, Danish international Hojlund was on hand to rescue the match for the Red Devils.
Ruben Amorim (right) watched his team return to winning ways Thursday night.
Vydra will not have scored an easier goal in his Premier League career with West Brom and Burnley, or in his years in the Championship with Watford, Derby and Reading.
United were really nervous and Rashford, who had been booked for a foul just before half-time, was very lucky to escape a second booking when he brought down Sampson Dweh shortly after.
Amorim immediately brought out Rashford to prevent him from being sent off, sending Hojlund to lead the attack with the ineffective Zirkzee moving to the left.
Credit must be given to Hojlund, who tied the score in six minutes. The goal was largely due to the initiative of Diallo, who received the ball from substitute Antony and cut ahead to the right, beating Viktoria captain Lukas Kalvach before firing a low shot. Jedlicka saved it, but the ball deflected to the feet of Hojlund, who finished it from close range.
Mount missed the chance to score the winning goal when he was already close to goal, but Jedlicka smothered his shot and Hojlund had to be the hero again.
Fernandes got the assist with a smart free kick played low inside the area, and Hojlund beat Alexandr Sojka before burying his shot.