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NOT long into the game a TV camera picked up Sam Allardyce stifling a yawn as he sat next to Sir Alex Ferguson in the directors’ box. To be fair to Erik ten Hag, this time his stars weren’t as bad as they’ve been at Old Trafford on some occasions this season as they scraped to a narrow win over Luton. But they’re still a painful watch compared to their neighbours Manchester City and, down the road,
Liverpool. The killer football of old is long gone. In its place is a version that’s often hard to identify.
It took a second-half goal by unlikely hero Victor Lindelof – his first for nearly three years – to put daylight between themselves and the Hatters.
That’s where they are at this season. This was the third 1-0 win against the promoted sides after beating Burnley and Sheffield United.
In all three games United had moments when it could all have gone pear-shaped. No disrespect to Luton but this was a game on their own turf that they should be winning at a canter.
Those days are in the past and in the eight minutes of added time at the end United fans had hearts in mouths as Luton gave it a go.
After another high-profile defeat in midweek at FC Copenhagen, this should have been the perfect game to build some confidence.
Instead it turned into a struggle against a spirited Town side.
Rasmus Hojlund (left), prolific in the Champions League with five goals in four games, went in search of his first Premier League strike against Luton and he thought it had arrived during a dominant opening spell by United.
Marcus Rashford’s deflected 10th-minute cross into the box fell for to him but Thomas Kaminski made a point-blank stop.
United kept pressing forward and Scott Mctominay should have found the target with a free header from Diogo Dalot’s cross.
The longer it went on, the more comfortable Rob Edward’s side became.
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