Luton Town 1-2 Man Utd: Player ratings as Hojlund brace inspires another win

A brace from Rasmus Hojlund was enough for Manchester United to eke out a win over a spirited Luton Town at Kenilworth Road.

Hojlund's sixth and seventh goals in his last six Premier League appearances gave the Red Devils a 2-0 lead inside the opening six minutes, however, Carlton Morris was able to reduce the arrears before the quarter-hour mark.

Momentum in the game to'd and fro'd thereafter, with both sides spurning good chances, and Man Utd were ultimately able to hold on for their fourth Premier League win in a row.

How the game unfolded

Almost immediately from kick-off, a raucous Kenilworth Road crowd were silenced by Rasmus Hojlund. The Dane prodded home his sixth goal in six consecutive games for Man Utd by pouncing on a mistake from Amari'i Bell at the back. Bell's panicked touch was lapped up by Hojlund who then raced into the box and side-footed casually past Thomas Kaminski in the Luton goal.

It didn't too long for Hojlund to make it seven goals in his last six games, as in the seventh minute he bagged another to make it 2-0. The young forward was in the right place at the right time to beautifully chest Alejandro Garnacho's volleyed effort into the far corner of the net.

Despite being thoroughly outplayed in the opening exchanges, Luton were handed a lifeline in the game via a fortunate deflection in the 14th minute. A swivelling shot from ex-Man Utd man Tahith Chong flicked off the heel of Harry Maguire and directly into the path of Morris on the right of the penalty area, with the striker subsequently heading home.

That moment of fortune seemed to buoy the home side, who began to wrestle control of the game off of Man Utd thereafter in the first half. Morris led a fierce press inside the opposition half to turn the momentum of the game, with said press resulting in the forward almost making it 2-2 before half-time - firing just wide of the post with an effort from outside of the box.

Although heading into the interval one goal to the good, the Red Devils probably should've been one man down too. Having been booked for a silly challenge early in the game, Casemiro was egregiously not shown a second booking late in the half when he needlessly chopped Ross Barkley down after a loose first touch.

Man Utd re-found their mojo at the start of the second half thanks to the introduction of Scott McTominay for the woefully underperforming Casemiro during the interval. The visitors came close to making it 3-1 on a few occasions, with Bruno Fernandes notably seeing an effort on goal brilliantly blocked by Albert Sambi Lokonga after he had rounded Kaminski in the penalty area.

Hojlund would have one chance to get his hat trick late in the game, with a swift Man Utd counter-attack culminating in the youngster bearing down on goal on the right of the penalty. After controlling a Garnacho pass infield, however, Hojlund's subsequent effort on goal was smothered by Kaminski.

Luton came within a whisker of drawing level with the final action of the game, with Barkley seeing a looping header fly over the head of Onana and onto the top of the crossbar.

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Luton Town player ratings (3-4-3)

GK: Thomas Kaminski - 6/10 - Made one very good save to deny Hojlund in the second half.

CB: Teden Mengi - 6/10 - Held his own against Rashford.

CB: Gabriel Osho - 6/10 - A regular threat from set piece situations.

CB: Amari'i Bell - 3/10 - His mistake inside the first few minutes led to Hojlund's opening goal of the game.

RM: Chiedozie Ogbene - 6/10 - His pace caused problems on the right flank.

CM: Albert Sambi Lokonga - 6/10 - Made a stunning goal-saving block in the second half.

CM: Ross Barkley - 7/10 - A class act on the ball and extremely effective off it too, winning eight duals.

LM: Alfie Doughty - 6/10 - Caused Man Utd problems with his deliveries into the box.

RW: Tahith Chong - 6/10 - His deflected shot led to Luton's goal. Found dangerous pockets of space between the lines.

ST: Carlton Morris - 7/10 - Reacted well at the back post to score in the first half. Led the press brilliantly for his team too.

LW: Cauley Woodrow - 5/10 - Worked hard on the left flank.

Substitutes

SUB: Jordan Clark (68' for Chong) - 5/10

SUB: Andros Townsend (68' for Woodrow) - 5/10

SUB: Luke Berry (82' for Doughty) - N/A

Manager - Rob Edwards - 7/10 - His side didn't do too much wrong on Sunday, and perhaps deserved a point from the contest.

Man Utd player ratings (4-2-3-1)

GK: Andre Onana - 5/10 - A bit befuddled leading up to Morris' goal.

RB: Diogo Dalot - 5/10 - Made a few dangerous runs in the final third, but had his work cut out for him up against Doughty at the other end.

CB: Raphael Varane - 6/10 - Forced into 11 defensive actions by Luton.

CB: Harry Maguire - 4/10 - Struggled to deal with Morris throughout the first half and was hooked at half-time.

LB: Luke Shaw - 5/10 - A surprising inclusion in the starting XI; an unsurprising injury substitution on the stroke of half-time. It was perhaps a bit silly to risk him for this game.

CM: Kobbie Mainoo - 7/10 - So composed in possession when Man Utd were struggling to retain control of proceedings.

CM: Casemiro - 2/10 - Should've been sent off in the first half. Clumsy and laboured on the ball until he was rightfully hooked at half-time.

AM: Bruno Fernandes - 6/10 - Created a few chances for his teammates and came close to scoring himself in the second half.

RW: Alejandro Garnacho - 5/10 - Not quite as effective as he'd have liked to have been on Sunday. Missed a few decent chances.

ST: Rasmus Hojlund - 9/10 - Scored a brace inside the opening six minutes of the game. The Dane was fantastic and is enjoying the best run of form of his young career.

LW: Marcus Rashford - 6/10 - Worked hard to help his defence out throughout. At the other end though, Rashford didn't really make an impact.

Substitutes

SUB: Victor Lindelof (45' for Shaw) - 6/10 - Put in a solid shift.

SUB: Scott McTominay (45' for Casemiro) - 6/10 - Surely he has to start ahead of Casemiro moving forward.

SUB: Jonny Evans (45' for Maguire) - 7/10 - Controlled Morris much better than Maguire did.

Manager - Erik ten Hag - 8/10 - Ten Hag's side were struggling heading into half-time, but a few savvy changes during the interval sured things up as intended.

Player of the match: Rasmus Hojlund (Manchester United)

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