Erik ten Hag’s decisiveness saves Manchester United from themselves at Luton

A win is a win, and yet this was as wild and chaotic a win as Manchester United might experience all season. There were 43 shots, 28 fouls, eight yellow cards and somehow only three goals in a game that might have had 10. There were glaring misses and terrible mistakes, and in amongst it all there was some brilliant football, too, most frequently found at the feet of Luton’s Ross Barkley and United’s Kobbie Mainoo. But Luton gave United a two-goal head start, and ultimately that is why they lost this breathless show 2-1.

Amari’i Bell presented Rasmus Hojlund with the first goal after 36 seconds; Luton failed to defend a corner and Hojlund’s improvised finish had made it 2-0 within seven minutes. Luton came back with the kind of gusto the Premier League is now well accustomed to at Kenilworth Road, and Carlton Morris’s opportunistic reply was well deserved.

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From there Luton terrified United, so much so that the visitors were voluntarily taking bookings in order to kill off threatening attacks. Such was Erik ten Hag’s fear of those yellow cards soon becoming red that, by the start of the second half, he had substituted three of his booked players: Luke Shaw (for injury but no doubt he was already on thin disciplinary ice), Casemiro and Harry Maguire, senior stars effectively scared into submission. In hindsight, Ten Hag’s decisiveness steadied a sinking ship. “The game was going in one direction, there was a lot of pressure on the referee,” Ten Hag said afterwards. “We had good replacements in Scott McTominay and Jonny Evans.”

By 51 minutes, United were actively time-wasting. And although they carved a raft of second-half chances on the counterattack, you were left more convinced by Luton’s bid to stay in the Premier League than United’s ambition to finish in the top four. “We’re staying up!” rang around Kenilworth Road and, despite defeat here, you were inclined to believe them.

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The atmosphere had been growing through the afternoon, as Luton fans lingered in the last of the sunshine outside the ground quaffing curry from paper trays. These games hold no fear any more, only anticipation at what the day might become; but that hope blew away when, after 30 seconds, Bell played a blind backpass that looked an awful lot like a perfectly weighted through ball for Hojlund. The Dane accepted the gift, surging through on goal before rounding Thomas Kaminski and slotting into an empty net.

Within seven minutes, it was 2-0. A half-cleared corner fell to Alejandro Garnacho on the edge of the box, whose first-time volley crashed into Hojlund and ricocheted into the net. Replays showed that what had at first looked like a stroke of good fortune was actually a sharp reaction by Hojlund, who used his chest to steer the wayward shot back on target.

At which point, the game seemed as good as over. Kenilworth Road fell so quiet you could hear isolated cries of frustration towards their players at the scoreline – standards are high at Luton these days. Cauley Woodrow, who had been parachuted into the team after top scorer Elijah Adebayo was injured in the warm-up, was booked for petulantly blocking a free-kick.

But this Luton team have been competitive with far better teams than Manchester United this season. They began to get their collective foot and the ball and probe, particularly down the left-hand side, which is where their goal came from. Alfie Doughty’s low cross found Tahith Chong in the box, who was allowed time to control, spin and shoot. His shot deflected up into the air kindly for Morris at the far post, who reacted quicker than Shaw to nod home past a flapping Andre Onana.

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Kenilworth Road made a noise unlike anything else in the Premier League, because where else do the roars bounce off the walls of a glorified cow shed? Luton were now unquestionably the better side. Barkley was dictating the game, and Morris was a constant threat, as was Chong in a constant pocket of space playing as a left-sided No 10. Doughty had the best chance to equalise, playing a one-two with Morris to get in behind United’s defence, before dragging his shot just wide.

United spent most of the first half utterly rattled. Marcus Rashford put in a wild challenge and escaped a booking, but Shaw, Maguire and Casemiro were not so lucky, all shown yellow for stopping promising attacks. The Brazilian might have received a second booking for a lunge on Barkley after a heavy touch, but referee David Coote chose mercy. Ten Hag replaced the floundering Maguire and Casemiro to protect his team, and Scott McTominay in particular helped wrestle back a little control.

United had plenty of moments in the second half, but when Luton were pressed to defend, they did so heroically. Kaminski made a fully stretched dive to his left to keep out Rashford’s low shot at the end of a fast counterattack; when Bruno Fernandes went through on goal, the excellent Albert Sambi Lokonga followed him every step of the way before lunging to block a certain goal; and Garnacho went clear a few minutes later but this time Kaminski got a glove on the ball to push him wide and the chance fizzled out.

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Then there was Fernandes’s dipping free-kick, beaten away by Kaminski, Hojlund’s hat-trick chance at point-blank range, blocked by Kaminski’s chest, and Fernandes’s drilled effort which flashed just wide. United should have scored that third goal to kill the game but they lacked a cutting edge. At the other end, Sambi Lokonga and Chiedozie Ogbene both had sighters from the edge of the box but missed the target. At the death, Barkley’s header hit the bar and Kenilworth Road gasped and groaned, knowing that was probably that.

And so United took away the most unconvincing three points, and Luton came away with the most frustrating of nothings, after hogging 58 per cent possession and taking 22 shots but scoring only once. And at the end of such a frenzied game, it was hard to know quite how.