Hojlund’s hot but United escape from Luton by skin of their teeth
THE arrival of Dan Ashworth at Manchester United has moved closer — it is all about agreeing compensation with Newcastle now — and one breathless night of football does not remove the sense that the new order is needed, even though it will be remembered here for many a long year.
United left this bouncing, beautiful football place with a fourth straight Premier League win, the prospect of a three-way fight with Tottenham and Aston Villa for fourth spot and a growing sense that in Rasmus Hojlund they have a striker of character and class. ‘The real deal,’ as Gary Neville last night described the forward whose two early goals took him to seven in six games.
But the game’s final act said far more about United, now lying sixth, three points behind Spurs. It was a header, applied by Ross Barkley, the game’s outstanding player, which struck the top of the bar and, for all of United’s missed chances, so nearly levelled things up. When all is said and done, the lavishly assembled United escaped from Luton by the skin of their teeth.
Hojlund was the part of it all that United can cherish today. The youngest player to score in six successive Premier League games and an individual with the kind of confidence — ego, even — which you need in the searing spotlight of the United frontline. His pace, taken with that of Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford, suits United’s counterattacking game so well.
Erik ten Hag spoke last night of the striker’s character. ‘He can perform under stress. We liked that when we scouted him,’ he reflected.
The 21-year-old revealed that in the way he took his first goal a mere 37 seconds into the game — seizing gleefully on Amari’i Bell’s dire attempt to control a bouncing ball, taking the ball on himself and spooling around Thomas Kaminski to slot home.
He revealed it as he detailed, post-match, how he had been practising with his reflexes and his shoulders, allowing him to react to a sliced Garnacho shot and swivel his upper body to divert the ball into the net for his second. ‘Marginal gains,’ as Dave Brailsford, Jim Ratcliffe’s man, would probably say.
The sun was starting to sink when that goal flew in, after a mere seven minutes, and the Luton players stared at each other in such bewilderment you feared for them. An opponent with real pretensions would have suffocated them from a position like that, silencing this heaving, bouncing bearpit in the process.
But the inconvenient truth is that United struggle to exert control in games. It is a weakness that often resides in the central areas, because of Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro’s defensive
limitations, but the flanks were also deeply treacherous places for them as Luton attacked.
The individual controlling the match was Barkley and there were times during the utterly compelling first half when he toyed with United’s lavishly assembled midfield.
It became a brutal and bruising evening for Luke Shaw, run a merry dance by Chiedozie Ogbene, while the tireless left wing-back Alfie Doughty, on the opposite flank, was free to cross accurately so often that you wondered where the tactical preparation had been all week.
The three bookings United incurred in the first half were symbols of a slackness. Shaw extended an arm as Ogbene threatened to embarrass him. Harry Maguire hacked at Carlton Morris as he made to drive into the area. Casemiro went in late on Bell and was then lucky not to be sent off for going through the back of Barkley. What a spectacle.
Three vastly experienced, vastly remunerated United players casually placing their team in positions of vulnerability with their poor decision making, semi-detached passes and minimal anticipation.
The noisy United contingent sang of their team in a way which suggested they are back and on the up. But Maguire deconstructed the notion, tamely passing a ball out of defence straight to Barkley, who put substitute Cauley Woodrow in. So did Shaw, ponderously responding after Tahith Chong’s shot on the turn deflected up for Morris, who responded first to head in Luton’s goal. Shaw departed with an injury before half-time.
Ten Hag did not send Casemiro and Maguire back out for the second half and in Jonny Evans and Scott McTominay there was better order. Luton went hunting and left themselves exposed, though United could not capitalise.
Kaminksi had a lot to do with that. The goalkeeper applied a touch of his glove to the ball when Garnacho seemed to have rounded him and recovered to stop the forward’s shot after he gathered and made for goal again. Albert Sambi Lokonga made the game’s outstanding defensive intervention, blocking Fernandes’ shot after he had rounded Kaminski. The goalkeeper also denied Hojlund a hat-trick from close range.
Though United might have scored five, there was still jeopardy when that last corner came in and Barkley rose to twist his head into it.
Brailsford congratulated the players as they climbed back on to the coach last night, but there was no disguising things. They had escaped and they knew it. LUTON (3-4-2-1): Kaminski 7; Bell 5, Osho 6, Mengi 6.5; Ogbene 7, Barkley 7, Lokonga 6.5, Doughty 6.5 (Berry 82min); Chong 6 (Townsend 68, 5), Morris 7; Woodrow 5 (Clark 68, 5). Scorer: Morris 14. Booked: Woodrow, Townsend, Osho. Manager: Rob Edwards 6.5. MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1): Onana 6; Dalot 6, Varane 6.5, Maguire 5.5 (Evans 46, 7), Shaw 5 (Lindelof 46, 6); Mainoo 7.5, Casemiro 5 (McTominay 46, 6); Garnacho 6.5, Fernandes 6, Rashford 6.5; HOJLUND 8.5 (Amrabat 85). Scorer: Hojlund 1, 7. Booked: Maguire, Shaw, Casemiro, Mainoo, Lindelof. Manager: Erik ten Hag 6.5 Referee: David Coote 5.5. Attendance: 11,483.