Amad Diallo has extended an olive branch to Rasmus Hojlund after the Man United stars were involved in an on-field bust-up on Thursday night.
After defeats by Arsenal and Nottingham Forest were compounded by sporting director Dan Ashworth’s shock exit last weekend, the Red Devils lifted the mood with a 2-1 Europa League comeback win at Viktoria Plzen.
Andre Onana’s error resulted in former Burnley and Watford striker Matej Vydra putting the hosts ahead early in the second half, but United substitute Hojlund quickly levelled before lashing home two minutes from time to secure Ruben Amorim’s first away win as United boss.
But the two-goal match-winner’s overriding emotion at full-time was frustration having been denied the chance to complete a hat-trick in stoppage time when Diallo elected to go alone rather than cross.
On another break moments later Hojlund chose against passing to the forward, leading to an argument at the final whistle while the two teams were getting ready to make their way down the tunnel.
As Diallo went over to the Dane, Hojlund appeared to push his team-mate away, before ignoring him.
Man United’s Rasmus Hojlund (middle) and Amad Diallo (right) argued on Thursday night
After United’s win over Viktoria Plzen, the stars remonstrated with one another on the pitch
Hojlund was left furious by Diallo’s refusal to pass late on when he was on a hat-trick
They then temporarily remonstrated with each other, as the situation eventually calmed down.
Amorim played down the on-field spat after the match – and Diallo took to social media on Friday night to hint that all was well between the pair.
Sharing a photo on his story of them high-fiving each other from the game, Diallo tagged Hojlund and added the love heart emoji and fingers crossed emoji.
Meanwhile, speaking after the game, Amorim had labelled the bust-up as a ‘perfect’ incident.
‘Yes (I was aware of that clash),’ he said. ‘And for me it’s perfect.
‘You know, in this moment we need to feel something. If we need to fight each other, it’s like a family. For me it’s a very, very good sign. We need to feel something and that is important.’
Put to the Portuguese it shows the players care, he said: ‘That is clear.
‘When you don’t care, you don’t do nothing. When you care, you fight with your brother, with your father, with your mother. For me, it’s a very good sign.
Diallo took to social media to extend an olive branch to his team-mate following the bust-up
Diallo’s and Hojlund’s team-mates had been forced to intervene as the argument went on
Ruben Amorim later suggested that the spat was a ‘normal thing’ in football and was ‘perfect’
‘It’s a normal thing. I think it’s a positive thing, a healthy thing, so I let the players and the captain to calm down the things.
‘If I see it is too much, I will go inside the dressing room. But it’s their space, they have to talk, to fight and, again, for me it’s a very important thing.’
Thursday’s victory saw United take a giant stride towards the Europa League knockout phase and boosted their chances of finishing in the top eight, meaning they would bypass the play-off round.
It was also a welcome shot in the arm ahead of Sunday’s trip to stumbling rivals Manchester City and another step forward as Amorim attempts to build the side in his image.
‘In this moment, in this context, the way we give a goal to the opponent, it was important not to give up,’ he said.
‘That is a great message. It was not a great game, but we manage to do these good things that is good when you are building a team and I think we deserved the win.
‘I am happy that we win the game and still fight each other. That is a very good thing.
‘When you win and fight with your team-mate because you want to score one more, for me it’s a very good day for us.’