Manchester United teammates Rasmus Hojlund and Amad Diallo exchanged angry words after the final whistle of a 2-1 victory over Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday.
Substitute Hojlund scored two goals and could have been teed up for a hat-trick chance by Diallo in the final minutes. However, the Ivorian did not find his teammate with a pass.
Viktoria had been pushing forward looking for an equaliser, which created space for United counters.
On another break shortly afterward, Hojlund opted to keep the ball. The pair then had a heated post-game exchange.
But for United manager Ruben Amorin, far from being a problem, the Portuguese said he believes it was a "very good sign" of two players who care about winning.
“We need to feel something,” Amorin said. “If we need to fight each other, it's like a family. When you don't care, you don't do nothing. When you care – you fight with your brother, with your mother, your father.”
Hojlund, 21, also scored twice in the previous round, when United beat Norwegian team Bodo/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 now sit seventh in the league phase standings with an unbeaten record in this season's Europa League.
"The win is important at the moment and it's good to prepare for the next game," United manager Amorim told TNT Sports, referring to Sunday's Manchester derby against crosstown rivals City.
A top-eight finish will see United qualify automatically for the last 16, while finishing ninth to 24th will earn them a play-off tie to reach that stage.
Matej Vydra opened the scoring three minutes after half time to stun United, before substitute Hojlund scored twice in the last half-hour to seize a vital three points for the English club.
The winner came two minutes from time when Bruno Fernandes cleverly slipped a free-kick into Hojlund's feet and he held off a defender before slipping home.
Werner performance 'not acceptable'
Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou did not hold back with his criticism of forward Timo Werner after a disappointing display in a 1-1 draw with Rangers in Glasgow.
Spurs arrived in Scotland without a plethora of first-team players and looked set for a third consecutive defeat when Hamza Igamane fired the hosts in front after 47 minutes to help a raucous atmosphere at Ibrox move up a notch.
Former Celtic boss Postecoglou had already made his first move at half-time with the introduction of Dejan Kulusevski for Werner after an error-strewn display.
Kulusevski would subsequently rescue a point for Tottenham when he rifled into the bottom corner in the 75th minute after being set up by fellow substitute Dominic Solanke.
A point for the Premier League outfit keeps them ninth in the league phase of the competition and in a strong position to secure a top-eight finish, but while Postecoglou called it an “important point,” he was frustrated with RB Leipzig loanee Werner.
“Yeah, just tactical. He wasn’t playing anywhere near the level he should,” Postecoglou said when asked about Werner being withdrawn at the break.
“It’s not acceptable to me. I said that to Timo. He is a senior international, a German international, with the moment we’re in right now, it’s not like we’ve got many options, I need everyone to at least be going out there and trying to give the best of themselves.
“Yeah, his performance in the first half wasn’t acceptable.
“We just need everyone, including him, to be contributing because we don’t have the depth to leave people out if they perform poorly. We need them to play their part and especially the senior guys.
“When I am asking younger guys to do massive jobs, I expect a level of performance from the senior guys and today wasn’t that.”
Lazio move top
Lazio top the standings with 16 points – joint with Athletic Bilbao – after beating Ajax 3-1 in Amsterdam to book their spot in the knock-out stages.
Lyon beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 to move up to fourth – one place above the in-form Bundesliga club.
Anderlecht overcame Slavia Prague 2-1 in the Czech capital to jump to third in the standings.
