Luton Town FC vs Manchester United (18th Feb 2024)

Report | Hatters just fall short against Red Devils

The Hatters slipped to a second successive home defeat but ran Manchester United close in a fascinating spectacle at Kenilworth Road.

The Town made the worst possible start when Rasmus Hojland put the visitors in front after just 37 seconds when racing through on goal following an error from Amari’i Bell.

And the Hatters’ afternoon got worse just six minutes later when Hojlund doubled the lead and his tally when getting the final touch in the box after Alejandro Garnacho’s mis-hit shot found him.

However the Town rallied and deservedly got back into it when Carlton Morris headed home from close range, bravely sticking his head where it hurt to nod beyond Andre Onana, to make it 2-1 with just 14 minutes on the clock.

What followed was a frantic, enthralling game that saw the Hatters dominate. On the half-hour Ross Barkley, gifted the ball by Harry Maguire, fed Cauley Woodrow but his shot was deflected behind for a corner.

With the majority inside Kenilworth Road on their feet, the Town came close finding an equaliser again shortly before the break when Alfie Doughty shot wide with an effort from the edge of the box.

After the break the chances continued as they found the groove that helped them begin to boss the game in the first half.

As the Hatters pushed for a leveller, taking risks as they went, United knew there were chances on the break and only a strong arm from Thomas Kaminski denied the visitors a third when clawing away Marcus Rashford’s drive.

The visitors came even closer to extending the lead on the hour when captain Bruno Fernandes rounded Kaminski only for Sambi Lokonga to keep out the midfielder’s shot.

Half-chances fell for the Town at the other end with Onana not overly extended. But the Town survived another United break again on 67 minutes when Kaminski did well to get a hand on the ball after Garnacho looked to round him.

Kaminski then punched away a top-corner-bound free-kick from Rashford but as the game continued to swing from end to end, Gabe Osho failed to properly connect with a strike in the six-yard box with the goal at his mercy.

As the Town pushed for a late leveller, holes appeared in defence and Kaminski earned his stripes once more when denied Hojlund his hat-trick with a strong arm with 12 minutes to play.

As time ticked down the Hatters upped the ante but it wasn’t until the final minute of four injury time minutes that they would come close to a late leveller when Ross Barkley’s header from Luke Berry’s corner hit the top of the crossbar.

The full-time whistle signalled encouragement from the Hatters faithful who rose to their feet to acknowledge another fine display from their team despite the early set-back.

Things, however, don’t get easier for the Town from here with a trip to league leaders Liverpool next up on Wednesday.

We’ll see you there.

Come on Luton.

Town: Kaminski; Ogbene, Doughty (sub Berry 82), Mengi, Osho, Bell; Lokonga, Barkley; Chong (sub Clark 68) Woodrow (sub Townsend 68), Morris.

Sub not used: Krul, Potts, Kaboré, Burke, Mpanzu, Nelson.

Attendance: 11,483 – the best league attendance at Kenilworth Road since United’s visit here in 1992, including 1,389 backing United.

Rob reflects on Man Utd reverse

Town boss Rob Edwards was pleased with his side’s response to the early set-backs they suffered depspite the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.

The Hatters were 2-0 behind after just seven minutes, conceding the first after 37 seconds, and were rocked in the warm-up by an injury to top goalscorer Elijah Adebayo.

But his team rallied and after Carlton Morris’ seventh goal of the season, the Town were unlucky not to earn a point.

“We’re really disappointed to lose the game – we can’t start the way we did against Manchester United,” said Edwards.

“Losing Eli, a goal down after 40 seconds… it’s not a great way to start to start and it took the players some time to recover.

“However, they responded really well. They were committed to the gameplan and they showed what a really good team we are. It’s just a shame we started that way.

“But there’s a lot to be proud of, nobody can say we didn’t want to go and win that game, that we didn’t take risks.

“We’ll pick the lads up, and we’ll look to respond well at Anfield on Wednesday.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4BFq43tdeo – Rob Edwards post match interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9CmGwHNK3E – match highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJDFw303VHg – extended match highlights

https://t.co/5oN8NNjPXh - press conference

Valiant Hatters go close but Højlund's double sees Manchester United escape with the points

Premier League: Luton Town 1 Manchester United 2

Luton saw another valiant effort at claiming a precious Premier League point fall just short as they were beaten by Manchester United at Kenilworth Road this evening.

The fact that Town were still pressing for an equaliser in the closing stages was nothing short of remarkable after an opening seven minutes to the game in which they fell 2-0 behind, United looking like scoring with every attack. However, they managed to get back into the match through Carlton Morris and, with Thomas Kaminski an impenetrable force at one end, almost managed to claim what would have been a wonderful draw.

Luton had a massive blow just before kick-off when, having made two changes, with Teden Mengi and Tahith Chong in for Jordan Clark and Reece Burke against their former clubs, saw top scorer Elijah Adebayo pull up in the warm-up, his place going to Cauley Woodrow. Determined to make a fast start, the Hatters did the exact opposite, a long ball over the top seeing Amari'i Bell make the cardinal sin of passing straight to Rasmus Højlund.

With the form the Danish international was in, having scored in his last five top flight games, he needed little invitation to take the ball to the right of Thomas Kaminski and easily find the net with just 37 seconds on the clock. Marcus Rashford almost doubled the lead on four minutes, left completely unmarked on the edge of the box, his deflected shot beaten away by Kaminski.

A shell-shocked Luton were hit with another body blow on six minutes when a corner was cleared as far as Alejandro Garnacho, his volley cleverly chested into the net by Højlund for his second, as it looked like a long evening was on the cards for Rob Edwards’ side. There was a growing concern it could get messy as with not even 10 minutes having passed, Rashford picked the ball up and just drove at the heart of the defence, with Luton standing off him, thankfully flashing narrowly wide from the edge of the box.

Garnacho tried his luck after some nifty Kobbie Mainoo footwork, Kaminski gathering gratefully, but out of nowhere, Luton gave themselves a lifeline on 14 minutes when Chong broke on the left and exchanged passes with Alfie Doughty. Receiving the ball back, he had a go, the ball deflecting up as Morris was quickest to react, bravely putting his head before the onrushing Onana to halve the deficit with his seventh of the campaign.

Such was the breathless basketball nature of proceedings, it felt like the contest was heading into the final quarter of an hour, rather than still being well over 60 minutes to play. Having had their confidence boosted, Doughty flashed in a cross that saw an off balance Morris unable to divert on target. The action then quietened somewhat as both sets of players got their breath back, although Luton had a great chance on the half hour, Barkley picking off Harry Maguire's pass out from the back and finding Woodrow to his left, his shot deflecting behind for a corner that was headed waywardly by an unmarked Gabe Osho.

Morris, who was having an outstanding game, almost made it 2-2 at the break, rifling just behind, as Luton deserved huge credit for the manner that they took the game to their opponents, particularly after the opening stages, dominating up to 62 percent possession at one stage. Casemiro had a huge let off on 40 minutes, as already booked, he cleaned out Morris, but referee David Coote somehow showed leniency, Doughty's set-piece cannoning off the wall.

The wingback then really should have capped a quite remarkable half of football by making it 2-2 when in a central position, he dragged wide on his right foot. Clearly concerned about going down to 10 men, United boss Erik ten Hag took off Maguire and Casemiro at the interval, Jonny Evans and Scott McTominay coming on.

It was the Red Devils who appeared boosted by the break, Onana's clearance straight through the middle for Diogo Dalot who had bent his run perfectly, only for Kaminski to back-pedal into the area and pinch the ball off his toes. Woodrow's measured effort was easy for Onana, before the forward just couldn't stretch to reach Doughty's cross as Luton won the ball back high up for what seemed like the umpteenth time.

Barkley fired over but then Town were indebted to a quite wonderful sliding interception from Sambi Lokonga when Bruno Fernandes rounded Kaminski, the Arsenal loanee arriving from out of nowhere to deflect his goalbound shot away to one of the biggest cheers of the night from an entranced home crowd. Still United attempted to kill the game off, Garnacho's low drive collected by Kaminski as he then twisted and turned Bell only to scoop over.

Ogbene curled into Onana's hands but as the hosts started to tire, and the visitors began to close in on a third, Garnacho racing clear from half-way, yet another unable to beat Kaminski who did magnificently once more. Edwards brought on Clark and Andros Townsend for Woodrow and Chong as Fernandes tried to cut out the middle man, his fizzing free kick beaten away by Kaminski, although Luton weren't without their opportunities, Osho's eyes lighting up when the ball dropped to him invitingly inside the area, unable to seriously test Onana.

Kaminski continued his one man barrier when Højlund went through again, standing up well to keep Town's hopes alive going into the final 10 minutes. Ogbene wasn't far away from the top corner, but United should have put the points to bed with two to go, Kaminski's clearance seized upon by Fernandes, the only aberration Town's number one made, the Portuguese international slicing just past the bottom corner.

With United having time-wasted throughout the second half, and both sides making multiple changes, the fact that only four minutes extra were added was nothing short of disgrace. Luton still managed to force a host of corners, Luke Berry now on to take them, but his final delivery saw Barkley's header tipped over by Onana only for Coote to award a goal kick, and with that, Town's chances of a point were ended.

Hatters: Thomas Kaminski, Chiedozie Ogbene, Teden Mengi, Gabe Osho, Amari'i Bell, Alfie Doughty (Luke Berry 82), Ross Barkley, Sambi Lokonga, Tahith Chong (Jordan Clark 68), Cauley Woodrow (AndrosTownsend 68), Carlton Morris. Subs not used: Tim Krul, Issa Kabore, Dan Potts, Reece Burke, Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, Zack Nelson.

Red Devils: Onana, Harry Maguire (Jonny Evans 46), Bruno Fernandes (C), Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Højlund (Sofyan Amrabat 82), Alejandro Garnacho, Casemiro (Scott McTominay 46), Raphael Varane, Diogo Dalot, Luke Shaw (Victor Lindelof 45), Kobbie Mainoo. Subs not used: Altay Bayindir, Victor Lindelof, Christian Eriksen, Amad Diallo, Antony, Omari Forson.

Referee: David Coote.

Booked: Woodrow, Shaw, Casemiro, Maguire, Townsend, Mainoo, Osho.

Attendance: 11,483 (1,389 United).

Hatters boss praises Luton's players for their response after being 'rocked' by Red Devils' lightning start

Town push United close after trailing 2-0 with six minutes gone

Luton boss Rob Edwards hailed his players for the way in which they were able to respond after being ‘rocked’ by Manchester United’s lightning start during this evening’s 2-1 defeat at Kenilworth Road.

With Town forced into a change ahead of kick-off, top scorer Elijah Adebayo pulling up in the warm up and Cauley Woodrow coming in, the hosts were hit by another huge blow just 37 seconds in, Amari’i Bell’s awful backpass seized upon by Rasmus Højlund who went straight through to beat Thomas Kaminski.

The Belgian was then fishing the ball out of his net once more with six minutes gone, Højlund again left unmarked from a corner to divert Alejandro Garnacho’s volley in for his second of the match, as Luton were already staring down the barrel of a heavy defeat. However, Carlton Morris halved the deficit with a quarter of an hour gone, heading home his seventh of the campaign, as with Kaminski in unbeatable form after the interval, it allowed the Hatters to push and push for an equaliser which they ultimately just failed to find.

Summing up his side’s character to remain in the contest, Edwards said: “Losing your number nine and then going one-nil down after 40 seconds is not an ideal way to start against Manchester United of course. I think it probably wobbled us and rocked us a little bit. One-nil turned to two-nil after about six minutes and you’re a little bit fearing the worst, and thinking ‘okay how are we going to respond to this?’

"I've got to give the players a lot of credit, they showed an air of calmness and belief, commitment to the gameplan and dragged themselves on to a really good performance. We got back into the game and then pushed and pushed, couldn't find the second one, but in the end there’s lots to like about the performance. But you can’t give a team like Manchester United a two-goal headstart that early in the game, we got punished with a couple of errors and it was hard to recover from that.”

Going through that opening 10 minutes, Edwards added: “There’s areas there we can work on, all right the first is human error, it won’t happen again, just one of those things. Second one, on the second phase, we step away from Højlund who’s on fire at the moment and a big, big threat, so that one we can fix.

"Then I thought we stepped on to a really good performance, a really good game. We’re playing against Manchester United, we’ve got to remember that, and remember that I'm feeling really disappointed as we fully believed going into this game we could win today, I really did. I think we showed that then in the performance after that first eight to 10 minutes where we were a little bit rocked with what had happened.”

Surprised Town chief quips Manchester United winning was the reason behind a lack of injury time

Edwards disappointed only four minutes were added at Kenilworth Road

Luton boss Rob Edward quipped that the lack of stoppage time played during his side’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in their Premier League clash at Kenilworth Road this evening was because it was the Red Devils who were winning.

With the visitors constantly time-wasting throughout the second half of the contest, and even in the first period too, Cameron international goalkeeper Andre Onana warned time and time again for delaying his goal kicks by referee David Coote, while four substitutions were made as well, then the feeling was that somewhere in the region of eight to 10 minutes would be added on at the end of the game, giving Luton, trailing 2-1, the chance to mount a grandstand finish.

However, despite having faced 12 minutes against Crystal Palace earlier in the season when they were winning, eight against Liverpool and six versus Arsenal, the latter becoming seven, as both title-chasing teams scored during that period, the Gunners snatching victory, a paltry four was raised on the board, leaving Town with little chance to really threaten an equaliser.

They almost managed it, Ross Barkley’s header appearing to be touched over by Onana, only for a goal kick to be given, as asked what he thought on the lack of time, a surprised Edwards said: “Yes, it was back to last season that wasn’t it? I don’t know where that one came from, Man United are winning 2-1, so it’s four minutes.”

Luton boss felt Red Devils 'got away with one' as Brazilian international Casemiro avoids red card

Experienced midfielder fails to see a second yellow from referee David Coote

Luton boss Rob Edwards felt Manchester United midfielder Casemiro should have been sent off during this evening’s Premier League clash at Kenilworth Road that ended 2-1 to the visitors.

The vastly experienced Brazilian international had already seen a yellow card for tripping Amari’i Bell as he looked to break away, before he made a far worse challenge when cleaning out Ross Barkley in the closing stages of the first half. He was somehow not shown a second caution by a lenient referee David Coote, although didn’t reappear for the second period, taken off with England defender Harry Maguire, who had also been booked for a foul on Carlton Morris.

Asked whether he felt he was lucky to stay on the pitch, Edwards said: “Yes, I think the fact that he came off at half time probably tells you. I think they're saying the first one wasn’t, but just because the first one wasn’t doesn't mean the second one isn’t, so maybe they got away with one there. I can’t do anything about it now and it happens, mistakes can happen.

"Things can go against us, it’s all right, we’ve got to deal with it. We shot ourselves in the foot, we caused ourselves one or two problems early on and we have to recover, so I’m not going to blame any officiating or them not going down to 10 men. Some things went against us tonight, some things were our fault, and maybe one or two bits weren’t, but I’m not going to complain about that.”

Red Devils head coach Erik ten Hag admitted that he had no option but to take off the duo in case they saw were dismissed, although he felt Casemiro’s yellow was an incredibly harsh decision, adding: “I think the game was going in the direction, there was a lot of pressure on the referee, they both were a risk for another booking and we have a good replacement with Scott McTominay and Jonny Evans.

"So that's why we took them off, we didn't want to go in that risk. It looked like even when he (Casemiro) is not touching opponents he gets booked and often on the first moment in the game as well. It is crazy and today was similar. It was so unfair, the first booking. The second could have been given and that's why I took him off. It's difficult to play if you don't even touch an opponent and then you get booked.”