Manchester United 3-2 Bodø/Glimt: Europa League – live reaction | Europa League

Rasmus Hojlund: “I think it was a bad start, we came back and showed character. We want to make sure these games don’t get too difficult.

“He (Amorim) told me today not to think too much about the guys behind and try to work on what I can see in front. We saw that with the first goal.

“The others told me it (the first goal) was very good, so I’ll go home and watch it again.

“It will take some time, but we can already see some patterns and things will get better. It’s up to us to build on it. This system reminds me of how I played at Atalanta – it suits me very well.”

Amorim gets through the tunnel as quickly as possible. He’ll love the collection of television interviews he has to do.

A Bodo player has just swapped jerseys with Antony. What a treat for him.

Full time: Manchester United 3:2 Bodo/Glimt

90+2 mins: Berg steps forward and heads for the top corner but Onana saves well to keep United in the lead.

90+1 min: Bodo has a free kick on the edge of the penalty area after a handball from Casemiro.

90 minutes: Added three minutes.

88 mins: United do their best to keep the ball but they give it away so Bodo can hit a cross into the box. Hoge makes a great header and Onana has to save. The assistant raises his flag even though the striker is clearly on the side.

“Bodo/Glint was a B-side to The Fall from 1995.” suggests Steven Hughes.

86 mins: Bodo reaches United’s penalty area, but Maata’s cross is brutally cleared to the halfway line. United will not want to miss this advantage.

84 mins: Amad skillfully plucks the ball from the sky and initiates an attack. What a lovely first touch. Admittedly, it amounts to nothing.

82 mins: Rashford has the chance to end the fight, but he fires his shot across the goal and wide of the goal.

Auklend is the last Bodo to come on as a substitute. Evjen gone.

80 minutes: The game is pretty open now. Bodo was the one hoping for an equalizer.

78 minutes: Mac Millings Emails: “I was just talking to the MBM and was shocked when I read the sentence ‘Zinckernagel surpasses Malacia’. Is Malacia okay? Maybe he wears boots made of molasses during a challenge? Having watched young Philip at Watford for 18 months, I can’t imagine a scenario where he could overtake anyone. He is so slow that his shadow leaves him behind. Etc.”

It’s worth noting that Malacia hasn’t played in 550 days or so.

76 mins: Onana sprints about 25 yards out of his goal and loses the ball to Hoge. The goalkeeper somehow recovers and United clears the pitch. In the end the ball reaches Garnacho, but he shoots over the goal. A few stupid seconds.

74 mins: Hojlund controls a ball from Dalot over the top and passes it to Garnacho, but the winger misses the goal.

Malcolm Shuttleworth is back: “The good news is that my German friend woke up. When I told her to read your blog, she made a funny joke and I thought, “I’d rather powder my nose with a garlic and sauerkraut dip!”

“I have to admit, a lot gets lost in translation…”

Can you send us evidence that she used this dip?

72 mins: Saltnes and Maata for Bodo. Can you go back to that?

Kevin emails: “But everyone knows Bodo/Glimt as the faded prog rock band of the 70s. During a difficult time after the departure of their frontman, albums like “Muddle” and the surprisingly successful “Dark Side of the Mourinho” were released. A lot now depends on their latest offering: “Shine on you Crazy Diamond Formation”…”

70 minutes: Hauge is the one who threatens the most and he gets a decent shot from distance but Onana drops him.

On the other hand… Amad moves in from the right and aims into the far corner, but Haikin is right there.

68 minutes: Bodo/Glimt haven’t threatened so far this half, but Sjovold gets around the United defense and hits a cross which is cleared.

66 mins: Fernandes appears to be about to control a pass over the ceiling and make direct contact with the goalkeeper, but the United captain falls over at the crucial moment.

Last change for United… Casemiro came on for De Ligt. The Brazilian is expected to drop into the middle of the back three. This is like a pre-season game.

64 mins: Hogh and Sjovold come for Bodo. The former is now up top and the latter on the right side of defense.

62 mins: The triple substitution sees United go back to playing 3-4-3. What a joke.

Emails from Elina Rye-Onsaker: “Greetings from Norway! (Although much further south than Bodø). I was listening to this game on the radio as I am a student without a television and the Norwegian commentator mentioned that the Norwegian Manchester United fan club has 45,000 members. Bodø has a population of 53,000.”

The power of Henning Berg.

60 minutes: Antony, Mount and Martinez set off. It looks like Shaw will play as a centre-back.

58 mins: Rashford and Amad are preparing. Luke Shaw is also in the process of taking off his wool hat and snood.

56 mins: “Do people really believe that footballers are pieces of a puzzle who cannot adapt to a different position?” asks Ben Hennessy. “Certainly professional athletes can learn a different system with time to train. 135 minutes into Amorim’s deployment and people are already crucifying his preferred formation.”

It’s quite a change from Ten Hag to this. One problem Amorim has is the lack of time at the training ground, with United playing twice a week for the foreseeable future.

54 mins: Of course there are some problems with this system, but I haven’t seen United look this threatening in a while. Garnacho is the last to have a chance, flying down the left side and shooting into the box, but his curling effort is well parried by Haikin.

GOAL! Manchester United 3:2 Bodo/Glimt (Hojlund, 50)

50 minutes: “Greetings from Leverkusen” says Malcolm Shuttleworth. “My German girlfriend fell asleep before United’s first goal and hasn’t woken up yet. Maybe she has better judgment than me.”

Wait! She doesn’t read the blog?!

49 minutes: OUT OF THE BAR! Mount is good at manipulating the ball after receiving a pass from Garnacho in the penalty area, but the former Chelsea man sees his shot fly off the top of the crossbar.

47 mins: It looks like Amorim has changed his tactics. Four at the back with Mazraoui at right back and Dalot at left. It’s something like a 4-2-3-1.

Second half

Krishnamoorthy says: “Poor Amorim – have to keep an eye out for new offers. I honestly can’t understand why anyone would inherit this mess.”

“Is it just me that thinks Bodo/Glimt sound like a few characters from “The Lord of the Rings”?” Richard Hirst asks the wrong man. I’ll put it on the floor instead.

Emails from Rob Hisnay: “So a team that is strong in defense and attacking wingers suddenly has to adapt to a 3-4-3? The current team cannot play this system. Simply insert square pegs into round holes. Due to Ten Hag’s terrible transfers, there is now little money to buy players who can play a 3-4-3.

“The chaos continues!”

Half-time reading:

Half time: Manchester United 2:2 Bodo/Glimt

GOAL! Mazraoui sends a cross into the penalty area, Hojlund has a wonderful first touch and shoots volleys into the corner despite having little space to maneuver.

GOAL! Manchester United 2:2 Bodo/Glimt (Hojlund, 45)

43 mins: Garnacho wins a corner on the left. Mount goes over to take it. The cross hits everyone, but Bjortuft is confused and unnecessarily hits it for someone else. Malacia is the man who can take it from the right… but it’s settled.

41 mins: United have a good period of possession but are struggling to find a gap in the Bodo defence. The Norwegians have 11 men behind the ball.

On the right, Antony shows some skill in beating a man and delivering a pass. Malacia sends a pass to Fernandes, but his shot is weak.

Haikin is finally called into action when a defender turns a cross from Garnacho towards his own goal.

39 minutes: Malacia hits a cross at the back post, but is more likely to sneak in than find a teammate.

Savage keeps pointing out that he should have a job higher up…

37 mins: Amorim gives a lot of instructions on the sidelines. Savage says it will take Amorim 18 months to clean up this mess on the team. Good luck, Ruben.

35 minutes: Robbie Savage spends his time co-communicating and explains that none of the United squads are suited to playing in this formation. It’s pretty entertaining from Savage (for once).

33 minutes: Antony has the chance to run at Gundersen, but goes straight into the defender before falling over. He stands up and keeps the ball, only to see his shot blocked.

31 mins: Hojlund definitely does everything he can to put Bodo’s central defenders under a lot of pressure. He almost catches Bjortuft, but the defender brings the ball back to the goalkeeper just in time.

Helmersen is booked for a foul on Fernandes. It seems a bit harsh for a first offense.

29 mins: Bodo/Glimt certainly know their roles. Knutsen has trained her well, although it helps that he has been training her for years.