Rasmus Hojlund scored twice after coming on as a substitute and Manchester United beat Viktoria Plzen 2-1 in the Europa League on Thursday.

The Danish striker netted in the 88th minute after collecting Bruno Fernandes’ pass from a free-kick to seal the win and take United into the top eight in the standings.

Hojlund replaced Marcus Rashford in the 56th minute and equalized six minutes later after Amad Diallo’s shot was deflected into his path by goalkeeper Martin Jedlička, allowing an easy finish.

Hojlund, 21, also scored twice as United beat Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt 3-2 in the preliminary round and has scored five goals in his six appearances in the second division competition.

“It feels good to have scored two goals, but I’m even happier with the win,” said Hojlund. “My instructions? Go out and score two goals! Just to use my qualities, control the channels and be assertive in front of the goal.”

United had suffered two consecutive defeats in the English Premier League, 0-2 away to Arsenal and 2-3 at Old Trafford against Nottingham Forest. This left the club in 13th place, eight points behind the top four, as it seemed to be making slow progress under new coach Ruben Amorim.

Matěj Vydra, who previously played for Burnley and Watford, scored the first goal three minutes into the second half.

United have 12 points from six games after three wins and three draws in the Europa League – good enough for seventh place.

The best eight qualify directly for the round of 16. Teams ranked No. 9 through No. 24 advance to a two-game playoff.

Tottenham continued to show inconsistent form as they drew 1-1 at Rangers, leaving the north London team in ninth place. The Scottish team is eighth.

Substitute Dejan Kulusevski was fed by fellow substitute Dominic Solanke to score with 15 minutes left to salvage a point at Ibrox.

Spurs lost 2-2 at home to Roma in the preliminary round and previously lost 3-2 to Galatasaray. The draw came after Sunday’s 3-4 defeat to Chelsea in the Premier League.

Hamza Igamane scored for Rangers early in the second half from James Tavernier’s cross, marking a return to Glasgow for Spurs coach Ange Postecoglou, who had led Celtic for two seasons.

Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and veteran Pedro Rodríguez each scored a second-half goal for Lazio as they beat Ajax 3-1 in Amsterdam and moved to the top of the table with 16 points from six games. Bilbao is tied on points but second on goal difference.

Anderlecht beat Slavia 2-1 in Prague to move up to third place.

Lyon moved up to fourth place with a 3-2 win against Eintracht Frankfurt. The German team is fifth.

Among other things, substitute Sergio Peña scored the equalizer in stoppage time and ensured that Malmö kept Galatasaray unbeaten at 2-2. The Turkish club is in sixth place in the overall standings. PAOK defeated Ferencvaros 5-0.

Roma showed signs of improvement by beating Braga 3-0 for their second straight win after the struggling club secured their first win with a 4-1 win over Lecce in Serie A under new coach Claudio Ranieri.

Braga goalkeeper Matheus received a red card in the 68th minute when the score was 2-0.

Rangers host Tottenham later on Thursday.

Conference League

A young Chelsea team took advantage of the long trip to Kazakhstan with a 3-1 win against Astana and remained perfect in the UEFA Conference League.

Marc Guiu scored twice in five minutes at the start of the first half. The 18-year-old striker opened the scoring with a solo effort in the 14th period and scored his second after meeting Pedro Neto’s cross from the right in freezing temperatures in the city of Almaty.

Guiu, who moved from Barcelona to Chelsea this summer, has scored three goals in the competition.

21-year-old Renato Veiga headed the ball in the third half before Marin Tomasov scored for the hosts towards the end of the first half.

Neto was the only player left from the squad that beat Tottenham 4-3 on Sunday to move up to second place in the Premier League.

Chelsea sit at the top of the third tier competition with 15 points and still have a game in hand in the league phase.

Fiorentina beat LASK 7-0 and Legia Warsaw lost 1-2 at home to Lugano. Swedish team Djurgarden defeated Vikingur in Iceland 2-1.

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