Hojlund fury at Man Utd teammate as Scholes blasts 'criminal' act

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim admitted Diogo Dalot's decision not to cross for Rasmus Hojlund against Real Sociedad "was not the best".

Hojlund went ballistic at Dalot in the 19th minute of the 1-1 Europa League draw after he made a near-post run, yet the right back decided against crossing the ball and the move ended with Patrick Dorgu slicing a shot wide.

£72million striker Hojlund has now gone 19 games without a goal and he did not have a shot against Sociedad on a night Joshua Zirkzee scored United's only goal.

Dalot apologetically slapped hands with Hojlund moments later but the flashpoint was analysed during TNT's half-time coverage of the game, with United legend Paul Scholes describing Dalot's play as "criminal".

"I think it’s hard to say but I’m just imagining Diogo doesn’t know for sure Rasmus has the advantage and he felt that he had a lot of time to think the play," Amorim said.

"Was a clear position, Rasmus did really well, Dalot did really well, the decision was not the best, the important thing is to move on and not fighting. Let’s move on to the next game.

"He (Hojlund) is trying really hard, he gave everything, he made the runs. We know that Sociedad has the high line, he uses his pace to win and to fight.

"And the other thing is he’s going to appear in the right moment, he has to continue to play and not be anxious. In that position with Diogo, he did a great run, was in position, sometimes the ball comes, sometimes it doesn’t.

"We have to improve a lot of things but I think we were much better in some moments against a good team that won against PSG here with the same style of play we faced."

United seemed on course to return to Old Trafford ahead in the round-of-16 tie until Bruno Fernandes was controversially penalised for handball inside his area, via an intervention by the Video Assistant Referee, in the 70th minute.

Spanish teams have been responsible for United's last six knockout defeats in European competition and Amorim rued United's failure to score a second goal in the first leg.

"We had our chances, more in the first half, but we had a lot of moments," he said.

"We played against a team that beat PSG here with the same pressure, so I think we did a good game, we had some problems after the penalty but we had some chances in the end.

"We have to improve that, we have to score more goals because with one goal it’s always a risk and we felt that today.

"It’s a pity because we had the game in our hands and we had some moments to kill the game, especially in the first half, so that’s the pity because against a good team we did a good game."

Amorim was clad all in black and United fans have been urged to wear the same colour to Sunday's game against Arsenal to symbolise the club "slowly dying".

United are 14th in the Premier League and defeat to Arsenal would be their 10th in 22 games under Amorim.

"We have to focus on ourselves, it’s another game, a different game, we have to improve a lot of things and we will have time to prepare that game," he said.