Will Unwin 

Manchester United 3-2 Bodø/Glimt: Europa League – as it happened

Two goals from Rasmus Hojlund helped Ruben Amorim secure his first win as Manchester United head coach
  
  

Rasmus Hojlund celebrates after scoring Manchester United’s third goal.
Rasmus Hojlund celebrates after scoring Manchester United’s third goal. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA

Thank you very much for joining me.

Here is Jamie Jackson’s report from Old Trafford.

Amorim: “I see what everyone sees. Good moments, difficult moments, some confusion in the end trying to keep the result. They ran, they pressed, they showed us what we had worked on. We won.

“Half of the stadium does not know me, I came from Portugal, I did nothing for this club yet, so the way they made me feel at home is so special. I will keep this to the end of my career.

“It was like a ride. We started well and then suffered two goals in two transitions. I liked that our players tried to play in the way we wanted. The players are really trying, I think we deserved to win.

“Bruno is the most experienced player and is the right man to start the tempo we want to play.

“I get anxious because I do not know what will happen. We control nothing at the moment but we are trying different things. We go to the game excited because we want to see different things but you are also nervous but you do not see how it will go.

“We did four substitutions because of the fitness of the squad. We need all the players fit.”

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 on the first goal.

“I’ve been told by the others that it [first goal] was very good, so I will go home and see it again.

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

Amorim gets down the tunnel as quickly as possible. He will love the collection of TV interviews he has to do.

A Bodo players has just swapped shirts with Antony. What a treat for him.

Updated

Full time: Manchester United 3-2 Bodo/Glimt

United just about hold on for a vital first win under Amorim. It was not exactly convincing but they needed this.

90+2 mins: Berg steps up and it is heading for the top corner but Onana makes a fine save to keep United ahead.

90+1 mins: Bodo have a free-kick on the edge of the box after a Casemiro handball.

90 mins: Three minutes added on.

88 mins: United doing their best to keep the ball but they give it away, allowing Bodo to swing a cross into the box. Hoge produces a fine header and Onana has to make the save. The assistant puts his flag up, despite the striker clearly being onside.

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

86 mins: Bodo reach the United box but Maata cross is ferociously cleared to the halfway line. United will not want to let this lead slip.

84 mins: Amad expertly plucks the ball out of the sky and initiates an attack. What a fine first touch. Admittedly, it comes to nothing.

82 mins: Rashford has the chance to end this as a contest but he fires his shot across goal and wide.

Auklend is the final Bodo sub sent on. Evjen off.

Updated

80 mins: The game is quite open now. Bodo have opened up as the look for the equaliser.

78 mins: Mac Millings emails: “Just catching up with the MBM, and was shocked to read the phrase ‘Zinckernagel outpaces Malacia’. Is Malacia okay? Is he, perhaps, wearing boots of molasses on a dare? Having watched young Philip for 18 months at Watford, I cannot picture a scenario in which he could outpace anybody. He’s so slow, his shadow leaves him behind. Etc.”

It is worth pointing out that Malacia has not played in 550 days or something.

76 mins: Onana sprints 25 yards or so out of his goal and loses the ball to Hoge. The goalkeeper somehow recovers and United clear down the pitch. In the end, the ball reaches Garnacho but he fires over. A silly few seconds.

74 mins: Hojlund controls a ball over the top from Dalot and lays it off to Garnacho but the winger drags his shot wide.

Malcolm Shuttleworth is back: “The good news is my German girlfriend has woken up. When I put it to her that she should read your blog, she quipped, quite wittily I thought, ‘I’d rather powder my nose with a garlicky sauerkraut dip!’

“I must admit, it loses a lot in translation...”

Can you send us evidence of her using said dip.

Updated

72 mins: Saltnes and Maata on for Bodo. Can they get back into this?

Kevin emails: “But everyone knows Bodo/Glimt as the faded ‘70s prog rock band. A difficult time after their front man left saw albums such as ‘Muddle’ and the surprisingly successful ‘Dark Side of the Mourinho’. A lot now hangs on their latest offering: ‘Shine on you crazy diamond formation’...”

70 mins: Hauge is the net one to threaten and he does get a proper shot away but Onana drops on it.

Down the other end … Amad cuts in from the right and takes aim for the far corner but Haikin is equal to it.

68 mins: Bodo/Glimt have not threatened in this half thus far but Sjovold gets round the back of the United defence and puts in a cross that is dealt with.

66 mins: Fernandes looks like he is about to control a pass over the top and be one-on-one with the goalkeeper but the United skipper falls over at the vital moment.

Final sub for United … Casemiro is on for De Ligt. One assumes the Brazilian is about to drop into the centre of the back three. This is a like a pre-season game.

64 mins: Hogh and Sjovold are on for Bodo. The former is now up top and latter at right-back.

62 mins: The triple change results in United playing 3-4-3 again. What larks.

Elina Rye-Onsaker emails: “Greetings from Norway! (Though much more south than Bodø). Listening to this match on radio, as I’m a student without a TV, and the Norwegian commentator mentioned how there are 45.000 members in the Norwegian Manchester United supporters club. Bodø has a population of 53.000.”

The power of Henning Berg.

Updated

60 mins: Antony, Mount and Martinez head off. Shaw looks like he will play at centre back.

58 mins: Rashford and Amad are readying themselves. Luke Shaw is about to remove his woolly hat and snood, too.

56 mins: “Do people really think footballers are jigsaw pieces which cannot adapt to a different position?” asks Ben Hennessy. “Surely professional athletes can learn a different system given time to train. 135 minutes into Amorim’s stint and people are already crucifying his preferred formation.”

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

54 mins: Clearly there are some problems with this system but I have not seen United look so threatening going forward for a while. Garnacho is the latest to have a chance, flying down the left and driving into the box but his curling shot is well saved by Haikin.

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

A fine move and finish. Mount steps over a pass and Ugarte pings a cross which Hojlund turns home inside the six-yard box. There is a long VAR check but the striker is just on.

Updated

50 mins: “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 judgement than me.”

Wait! She isn’t reading the blog?!

49 mins: OFF THE BAR! Mount does well to manipulate the ball after receiving a pass inside the box from Garnacho but the former Chelsea man sees his shot ping off the top of the bar.

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

Second half

Here we go again!

Dalot replaces Malacia at half time.

Krishnamoorthy says: “Poor Amorim - must be looking for fresh offers already. I honestly can’t understand why someone would inherit this mess.”

“Is it just me who thinks Bodo/Glimt sound like a couple of characters from Lord of the Rings?” Richard Hirst is asking the wrong man. I will put it to the floor instead.

Rob Hisnay emails: “So, a team steeped in 4 at the back and attacking wingers suddenly has to adapt to 3-4-3? The current team can’t play that system. Just fitting square pegs into round holes. Because of Ten Hag’s horrible transfers there’s little money to now go out and buy players who can play a 3-4-3.

“The mess continues!”

Half time: Manchester United 2-2 Bodo/Glimt

We are level after an intriguing first 45. United look confused with the new system and Bodo have taken advantage are key moments.

GOAL! Mazraoui chips a cross into the box, Hojlund takes a wonderful first touches and volleys into the corner despite having little room to work with.

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

A sublime finish!

Updated

43 mins: Garnacho wins a corner on the left. Mount goes over to take it. The cross beats everyone but Bjortuft gets confused and needless flicks it out for another. Malacia is the man to take it from the right … but it’s cleared.

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

Antony shows a bit of skill on the right to beat a man and lay a pass off. Malacia sends a pass to Fernandes but his shot is weak.

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

39 mins: Malacia dinks a cross to the back post but is actually closer to sneaking in than find a teammate.

Savage is just repeatedly pointing out he should have a job higher up …

37 mins: Amorim is offering out a lot of instruction on the touchline. Savage says Amorim needs 18 months to sort this mess of a team out. Good luck, Ruben.

Updated

35 mins: Robbie Savage is spending his time on co-comms explaining how none of the United team are suited to playing in this formation. It is quite entertaining from Savage (for once).

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

31 mins: Hojlund is certainly putting in the hard yards to put the Bodo centre-backs under plenty of pressure. He almost catches Bjortuft out but the defender gets the ball back to the goalkeeper just in time.

Helmersen is booked for a foul on Fernandes. It seems a little harsh for a first offence.

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

27 mins: It could be 3-1! Evjen is found by Bjorkan in the box but he is leaning back slightly and his shot rises over the bar.

25 mins: Amorim is realising how difficult it is to dramatically change tactics at a mid-table Premier League club.

Updated

GOAL! A long ball is played inside Malacia who does not react in time and Zinckernagel gets ahead of him in the race to reach the ball in the box, he takes a touch or two and phrases it beyond Onana.

GOAL! Manchester United 1-2 Bodo/Glimt (Zinckernagel, 23)

OH! Zinckernagel outpaces Malacia and provides a clinical finish.

Updated

22 mins: United will be even more frustrated by their failure to take their chances now. Amorim will also be wondering how Evjen had so much space on the edge of the box.

Malacia chips a cross which Haikin claims and drops to the ground. I am not sure they need to slow things down just now.

GOAL! The Norwegians get the ball into the box for a first time in the while. Fet holds it up and tees up the shot for Evjen sprinting towards the edge of the box, from where he pings a wonderstrike in to the top corner.

GOAL! Manchester United 1-1 Bodo/Glimt (Evjen, 19)

What a cracking strike!

Updated

18 mins: Fernandes takes a punt from distance but his shot bounces well wide of the post. It is all United at the moment and Amorim is pacing up and down the touchline eager for a second.

16 mins: Garnacho darts into the box and pulls it back to Mount in space but Haikin is equal to the shot. The goalkeeper is called upon moments later to do similar to a Fernandes effort. United are looking lively in the final third which is pretty novel for them.

There is a sea of yellow in the corner at Old Trafford and the Bodo fans are bouncing.

14 mins: Antony gets his first chance to do something useful but instead of playing a clever pass to Mount in space in the box, he sends it backwards.

12 mins: Zinckernagel receives a pass on the edge of the box and moves the ball quickly to beat a couple of defenders but he is off-balance as he shoots, ensuring the effort trickles towards goal.

10 mins: Knutsen is also pitchside making plenty of notes as he plots a route back into this game. His team are doing their bit to make this a game with their own brand of intensity and constant pressing.

8 mins: Bjorkan uses the space given to him on the left to get into the box but his cross is cleared for a corner. Some signs of promise for Bodo. The attack results in Amorim getting off the bench and into the technical area.

6 mins: Haikin has quite an eclectic and is actual a British national having spent a lot of his youth in the country. He can’t have fancied making such a mistake on his return to his ‘homeland’.

4 mins: It does look like United are bit more energetic than in the Ten Hag epoch. They are putting in plenty of effort to press the opposition.

GOAL! Haikin lets a backpasss roll across him, Hojlund puts him under pressure and blocks the clearance, which lands to Garnacho who taps into an empty net.

Updated

GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Bodo/Glimt (Garnacho, 1)

WHAT A MISTAKE FROM THE GOALKEEPER.

Updated

1 min: Malacia’s first involvement is to needless to give the ball away in his own half to give Bodo the chance to counter. They get to the edge of the box but are held up.

Kick off

Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!

Amorim comes out of the tunnel to chants oh ‘Ruben! Ruben! Ruben!’.

Kevin Wilson emails: “If Amorim can get Mount anywhere near his Chelsea prime, then that will be a huge bonus. He’s still young and despite a rough few years, he’s still very talented. Whether he works better as one of the deeper midfielders or in the front three remains to be seen, but if he can stay fit, he’ll give the manager options.”

Amorim: “I am really calm, I expect a good game, a good environment, I am feeling that belonging with the fans. I am expecting the team to show different things, we need to improve.”

On Malacia: “He is an international player, he plays there for the national team, he is very aggressive, he played 45 minutes for the under-21s and he is ready.”

On Antony: “He needs to be ready, he will play the position he has for a long time, he has some things to do defensively but otherwise it’s the same position.”

It is six changes from Amorim following his first game at Ipswich. I am fascinated to see how he uses Antony. The Brazilian really is Last Chance Saloon having been the worst signing in the club’s history.

I woke up in Monaco today but now find myself in Manchester. You should be impressed by my committed to MBMing.

YOU HAVE OPTIONS! Join Luke McLaughlin for Spurs v Roma.

Could Amorim be the man to get the best out of Rashford?

Interesting from Amorim as Antony and Malacia are given their chance. Could Amorim be the man to get the best out of Antony?

Starting lineups

Manchester United (3-4-3): Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez; Antony, Ugarte, Fernandes, Malacia; Mount, Hojlund, Garnacho

Subs: Bayindir, Heaton, Rashford, Zirkzee, Eriksen, Diallo, Dalot, Shaw, Mainoo

Bodo/Glimt (4-3-3): Haikin; Wembangomo, Gundersen, Bjortuft, Bjorkan; Evjen, Berg, Brunstad Fet; Zinckernagel, Helmersen, Hauge

Subs: Faye Lund, Nielsen, Auklend, Hogh, Espejord, Saltnes, Moe, Sjovold, Maata, Sorli, Sorensen, Mikkelsen

Preamble

I am sure we can all find exciting firsts for Ruben Amorim in the coming weeks and months but tonight he is ticking off his Old Trafford debut as United boss and taking charge of them in Europe for the first time. After drawing at Ipswich, he will be hoping for a more convincing performance but his team are learning on the move. As Amorim knows, United need to quickly improve in Europe if they are to guarantee a place in the next round, so need to build some momentum.

Bodo/Glimt are in town, swapping the artic conditions of home for something only slightly milder. The Norwegians are managed by Kjetil Knutsen who is linked to every half-decent job in English football but seems pretty happy with his lot and why wouldn’t he be?

Kick-off: 8pm GMT

 

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