Viktoria Plzen’s manager, Miroslav Koubek, disclosed that his strategy against Manchester United involved exploiting goalkeeper Andre Onana’s weaknesses.
Despite his team’s efforts, Plzen fell 2-1, allowing the Premier League team to rise to seventh in the Europa League standings, edging closer to the last 16.
After an early second-half goal from former Burnley striker Matej Vydra, who capitalized on an error by the Cameroonian while attempting to play the ball out, Plzen felt they had the upper hand.
However, substitute Rasmus Højlund’s brace turned the tide for United.
Koubek confirmed post-match that pressuring Onana was part of their game plan and that he had asked his players to shoot at the former Inter Milan goalkeeper at every opportunity.
“Yes that was our tactic,” said Koubek. “I told them to shoot from every viable opportunity – maybe I’m disappointed with the very last shot – that could have been resolved better.
“But the player decided to shoot and it is what it is. We are disappointed, we deserved at least a point. I am proud of the team. The guys gave everything and made it very difficult for the opponent.
“The opponent certainly values the win a lot, we value our performance, it was a beautiful match. It wasn’t like a world class opponent was pouring four or five goals on us, we resisted heroically.”
Onana’s form has been inconsistent, producing some good performances at some point but making blunders that hurt his teams as well.
