Luton 1-2 Manchester United
by Layth Yousif
at Kenilworth Road
RASMUS HOJLUND scored for the sixth Premier League game on the bounce as Manchester United emerged with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over a relentlessly fierce Luton Town.
Grand old Kenilworth Road staged an enthralling clash on Sunday afternoon that saw United’s Danish £72 million summer signing from Atalanta continue his impressive scoring streak by netting twice in the opening seven minutes, to provide the platform for a fourth successive league win for Erik ten Hag’s team.
The win over Rob Edwards’s impressive Hatters saw the Red Devils move to within three points of Spurs in fifth spot, and only five off Aston Villa in the final Champions League place, as the visitors put their underwhelming early season form behind them in Bedfordshire to bolster their quest for a top-four finish.
At just 21, Hojlund became the youngest Premier League player to score in six successive matches, with his first of an entertaining afternoon coming after only 36 seconds following Amari’i Bell’s error, to round Thomas Kaminski before slotting into the net for 1-0.
Their 1,389 travelling supporters housed in the Oak Road Stand, in a seasons’ best attendance of 11,483 had barely finished celebrating when the predatory Hojlund struck again, when instinctively chesting in Alejandro Garnacho’s shot in a crowded box to make it 2-0, before the late winter sun had even set on those watching on.
Which, bizarrely enough, included Harry Styles, whose fame was still not enough to blag him a ticket for the sold-out clash, preferring instead to visit the broadcasters’ suite before kick-off to beg a free pass — that ended up with the former reality pop star sitting next to Mick Harford, who, to many in football, will always be a genuine legend with the X-factor.
As the contest unfolded, it was a joy to watch United’s outstanding 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo who, if he continues his current trajectory, will certainly be a world-class entertainer soon enough.
However, after the shock of conceding twice, Luton only had one direction to attack, and that was the United goal.
Hatters captain Carlton Morris capped a pulsating opening by grabbing a goal back on 14 minutes, to make it 2-1.
Luton should have levelled with several missed chances as they overwhelmed United with their ferocious onslaught — with the ageing, immobile and undisciplined Casemiro lucky not to see red for lunging on the ever-impressive Ross Barkley while already carrying a booking. A stronger referee than David Coote would have ignored the badge and handed the player a second yellow.
No wonder frustrated Hatters boss Edwards said of the incident after the match: “Maybe they [United] got away with one there.”
What was also frustrating to see was the continued fall of Marcus Rashford.
Whatever has happened to the lad who burst onto the scene with a wonderfully engaging joie de vivre, allied with a burning desire to score and to influence matches with such vivid intelligence, hard work and running on and off the ball.
While the Manchester-born, working-class 26-year-old will always be hailed for hounding ever-callous Tory MPs into changing government policy and helping to feed hungry young children, the only shame felt at Luton was when the home support thundered: “You are embarrassing,” at Rashford’s poor attempt to feign injury in a bid to con referee Coote into awarding a first-half penalty.
United were also carrying a plainly unfit Luke Shaw, who ten Hag hooked before half time for Jonny Evans.
With special guest Styles looking on from the directors’ box, aided by a chewing gum from the kind Harford, who certainly never handed out treats as a teak-tough striker for Luton in the late 1980s, ten Hag’s substitution proved to be a pivotal swap, as the veteran Evans proved a valuable redoubt in helping an embattled back line repel 22 crosses into the United box in a hectic second half.
Barkley’s partnership with another previously forgotten midfielder, now seemingly reborn under Edwards’s canny leadership, Sambi Lokonga, stoked Luton’s hopes — even if their side’s manic intensity understandably faded into the second half.
Yet still Edwards’s worthy side displayed enough excellent play to indicate this powerfully united side from such a humble corner of Bedfordshire can confound many by staying in the world’s richest league.
We could have almost been praising a creditable draw when Barkley — who surely must be on the verge of an England recall — nearly snatched a point when his header glanced off Onana’s bar in the closing moments, but it just wasn’t Luton’s day against an obdurate United.
Speaking after the match, ten Hag praised Hojlund, his match-winning striker, saying: “He doesn’t get nervous or lose confidence when he’s not scoring. Once you are in a run, you see it, now he’s scoring and he’s in. That’s how he is now. He has a lot of confidence and I’m sure he’ll score more.”
