World news – GB – Manchester United clear the bench to overwhelm Luton at the death after another undercooked start

The best you could say for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is that it could have been so much worse for a Manchester United team that is trying to gain its fitness as the season progresses in what seems like a race against time in their Premier League programme not to get left behind.

As for the League Cup they are into the fourth round against a Luton Town team who might have thought that was more for them on a warm evening at Kenilworth Road where United played with the intensity at time of an early pre-season tour. On Saturday that was enough for Crystal Palace to seize the initiative although this time there was not quite the cutting edge about the Championship opponents to take on a United side stuck in third gear.

For all the difference in their circumstances, there are currently only eight league places between Luton, with two wins thus far, in their Championship season and United with their winless start to their season. Nathan Jones’ side had a confidence that grew as the game progressed and was then gradually worn away as Solskjaer sent on Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Mason Greenwood who between them added the two goals in the last five minutes of the game.

There were one each for Rashford and Greenwood, to add to the penalty scored by Juan Mata just before half-time. United were ponderous in attack and against a side who try to pass the ball just struggled to take control of the game. They could not raise their tempo to dominate Luton as might ordinarily have been expected, although they were solid in defence. The first effort on goal from the home team came with 10 regulation minutes to play and it was then that Solskjaer sent on his substitutes to see the game out.

Any embarrassment avoided for the United manager even if the scoreline might have been a little too generous on his players. The challenge of Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday is much more serious and perhaps it was for that reason Solskjaer tried to give as many of his squad a game.

There was just one from the United side that lost on Saturday at home to Crystal Palace in the starting XI, and although Ole Gunnar Solskjaer tried to unleash a different collection of under-conditioned players on their Championship opponents they looked just as tired at first. Only Harry Maguire stayed in the team from Saturday with a bench that offered Solskjaer some options. While these are early days yet for United it did feel that they were beginning their pre-season rather than playing the first cup tie of 2020-2021.

Luton went in at half-time a goal behind to Juan Mata’s penalty when George Moncur clipped Brandon Williams although before then Solskjaer’s players had struggled to get in behind their opponents. Wayne Rooney had been here at the weekend and left on the losing side with Derby County, and there was a spring in the step of Nathan Jones’ side, newly-promoted to the Championship last season.

They had attacked United, especially in behind Aaron Wan-Bissaka down the right flank, where Kazenga Lualua, once of Newcastle, Brighton and other places in between got in behind. Ryan Tunnicliffe, once of United, played in front of the Luton midfield and there was no doubt which of these two sides were playing their seventh game of the season and which of the two were playing just their second.

There was plenty of energy from Luton although they struggled to get an effort on the goal of Dean Henderson, playing in place of David De Gea. There was a wayward header from Eric Bailly that opened up some space for Lualua although generally it was a struggle for the home side to create a chance of any note in the first break. The same might be said too of United before Moncur had a lunge at Williams and Mata could clip his shot crisply past James Shea in the Luton goal.

The home side were undeterred, and they kept the pressure on United although there was barely a sight of the United goal until the last 10 minutes when Dean Henderson had a save to make at last and the Bailly managed to clear the follow-up from the defender Tom Lockyer. It had been a long time coming for Luton, still in the game in the closing stages, who at last registered their first attempt on the United goal.

Then came the three substitutions who changed the pace of United attacks. Greenwood laid the ball off to Rashford for him to finish just inside the box and then the United teenager bent the ball around Shea for the third goal of the night. It was the least that might be expected for Solskjaer but much greater challenges lay ahead and they are coming soon. As for Luton they have a much bigger game on Saturday: local rivals Watford at Vicarage Road in the league.

Luton Town (4-1-4-1) Shea; Kioso, Lockyer, Bradley, Norrington-Davies; Tunnicliffe; Clark (Cornick, 75), Shinnie, Moncur (Lee, 75), Lualua; Hylton.Substitutes Cranie, Pearson,Sluga, Mpanzu, Collins. Booked Kioso, Hylton. 

Manchester United (4-2-3-1) Henderson; Wan-Bissaka, Bailly, Maguire, Williams; Fred, Matic; Mata (Greenwood, 78), Van de Beek (Fernandes, 78), Lingard; Ighalo (Rashford, 78).Substitutes Grant, Dalot, James, Mengi. Booked Williams.

Flattering scoreline for a generally lukewarm performance for United who look in pre-season mode in terms of tempo. But when the quick-quick was belatedly added to the prevailing slow-slow, Rashford and Greenwood were clinical in a way Van de Beek and Oghalo were not, 

Greenwood cuts in from the right, executes a couple of stepovers, double lollipops as Ron Atkinson used to call them, then whips a left-foot shot from an angle of about 45 degrees in at the far post, threading it under the keeper’s outstretched right hand as he dived. 

Electric run from Greenwood, cutting in from the right, beating Norrington-Davies and Tunnicliffe before flaying a right-foot shot from a tight angle at Shea covering the near post. 

Seconds later Lingard cuts in off the left and steers a handsome right-foot shot just wide of the right post. 

Good finish. The ball was played up to Greenwood who used his strength, back to goal, to hold off Bradley and lay it off for Rashford’s run down the inside-right. He cushioned it and opened his foot to drill a right foot shot with his instep into the bottom right corner. 

Maguire wears Hylton’s arm on his nose as they go up for a Luton goalkick and though he isn’t booked for that he is 30 seconds later when he goes into Williams with his foot up. 

Shinnie takes the free-kick and sends over a devilishly dipping cross to the back stick and Henderson pulls off a brilliant save low at the right post from Lockyer’s header. First save he’s had to make and it was a fine one. His defenders scramble Lockyer’s rebound effort, hit from a supine position having fallen on his back. It was Bailly who belted that effort clear.

Cornick earns a corner by catching United napping as they pass on messages about formation following the substitutions. United clear their lines but Matic is penalised for wrestling with Shinnie as the former Rangers winger tries to take the ball back down the right.

LuaLua is played down the left by Norrie Paramor-Davies. He switches it over to Shinnie who sends Kioso down the right. The full-back drives over a deep, flat cross that Bailly has to battle Hylton for and emerges the winner. 

Wan-Bissaka drives down the right before whipping in a near-post cross that Bradley slides in to knock away from Ighalo. Van de Beek pounces on to it and with remarkably quick feet spins and stabs a shot from the right angle of the six-yard box that is blocked by the Luton captain. 

Lingard thinks he should have a corner and he may well be right when he wraps his right-foot shot from 22 yards over the bar via, he claims, a flick of the toe from his Carrington youth-team colleague Tunnicliffe. 

Moncur and Clark work an opening down the right but the cross is scrambled away to the edge of the box where Shinnie snatches at a shot and shanks it wide. Howl of anguish from someone of a Luton bent. 

Lingard has a hooked back-post shot cleared off the line by Tunnicliffe, having beaten Shea. Seconds later Matic drills a low, left-foot shot from 20 yards that Shea palms away at full stretch.  

Williams races over to tackle Clark who had been set off on a break up the right when Tunnicliffe picked off Lingard’s backheel and threaded it up to the winger. 

LuaLua blocks Wan-Bissaka’s cross and Mata takes the resulting corner. He picks out Maguire with a left-foot inswinger but Bradley challenges strongly and repels the danger.   

Luton work the free-kick down the right and Kioso takes it to the byline but his cross lands on the roof of the net. 

Williams is yellow-carded for bringing down LuaLua by stepping across him as the winger dribbled forward and tried to hack the ball off him with his heel. 

Good move by United with Lingard popping it off at the edge of the United box to Mata who spears a 40-yard diagonal up the left to Van de Beek. The new signing controls it immaculately and faces up Kioso then lays it off to Lingard who tacks right across the 18-yard line before ballooning a shot into the empty stand. 

Bailly, Fred and Wan-Bissaka contrive to knock the ball out of play when ostensibly trying to work a triangle on the left. 

Van de Beek is penalised for making a back for Clark as they went up for a header and barging him over as he leapt. 

Hylton goes down the right and bullets over a cross that is so far ahead of Clark that the centre-forward looks bemused. Didn’t pick his head up nor nod to the fact the he is the centre-forward who would be expected to be on the end of it. 

Luton kick off and work it back to go forward. At half-time Darren Ferguson said that Luton were guilty of showing Manchester United too much respect when in truth they had neither earned nor deserved it. 

 Contrast his technique when placing it with Kevin De Bruyne’s last night. A stab versus a sweep:

Luton were impressive for long periods of the half, looking threatening down the left and have a well-grooved routine of using that flank to pick out Clark’s late runs into the box. He hangs back to try to isolate Williams but for all their endeavour, United have the lead by virtue of a clumsy trip. Nothing very edifying too far from United but there are odd glimpses of Van de Beek’s class and Lingard shaking off the rust. 

More incisive since the goal, Manchester United knock the ball upfield, Fred arrowing  a 50-yard diagonal to Mata’s feet. But the, having seen that direct works, Mata and Williams try to soft-shoe their way through the box on the left and are squeezed out of space. They need to take shots on or get crosses in rather than trying to slalom or tiki taka their way through the penalty area. 

Moncur trips Williams as the left-back picked up a deflected clearance. The midfielder came in from the side. 

Longer spell of possession from Manchester United ends when Van de Beek tries to knock the ball back to Wan-Bissaka in a one-two but horses up the return with his back to goal and the right-back just entering the box on the angle to shoot. 

Tunnicliffe and LuaLua combine to send Norrington-Davies beyond Wan-Bissaka and down the left to the byline. He whips over a cross that bypasses Hylton’s near-post run but picks out Clark at the back. He leaps but belts it over from 15 yards having beaten Williams. 

Up pops a graphic showing Luton have had 70 per cent possession over the last 10 minutes. 

Luton opt for a short corner and let United, who looked shaky under the last deep one, off the hook. 

Clark picks up the ball 40 yards out on the right, cuts inside and tries to guide a 25-yard shot into the top right corner but Maguire gets in the way to block and the ball sails over the bar for a corner. 

Kioso looks an exceptional talent at right-back  … until he loses the ball on another marauding run. United snap forward into the counter, working it into the box on the left where Van de Beek’s pass is either not read by Mata or completely misflicked. 

I’ve seen about a dozen Premier League matches over the past 10 days. No doubt Manchester United look the most undercooked team in terms of physical intensity.

Luton corner on the right and they fool the defence by hitting it long. Bradley wins the header unchallenged behind the back post and Shinnie turns before it drops to volley a shot from eight yards out straight into the alert Williams. 

Luton continue to make inroads up the left with Tunnicliffe and LuaLua. Fred is having to drop in to help out Wan-Bissaka because Mata isn’t working back so far. 

Tunnicliffe finds space down the left and bounds into the box but a combination of Bailly and Henderson snuff out the danger as the former United trainee runs out of road. 

Left-foot shot from Fred from 25 yards ricochets off Bradley and goes out for a corner from which De Beek makes the cutest no-look lay-off only for Mata to have been caught offside as he tried to finish it from 12 yards. 

Good chance for Luton but Hylton, in typical No9 fashion, is guilty of greed when he takes on the shot from an angle of about 25 degrees to Henderson’s right post when Claek and Shinnie were better placed in the middle. 

Lingard, who has been very lively, hares down the left, centres to Van de Beek, who steps over it and allows it to run to Mata by the penalty spot. He sweeps a shot towards the far corner where Shea, who looked beaten, got down late to stop it creeping in with a strong wrist.

United goalkick that Henderson wallops up the right beyond Mata and straight to Norrington-Davies. Luton come back at them, feeding it up to Hylton. Maguire’s poor interception gives it back to Luton and LuaLua takes it down the left then pings a far too forceful cross/shot/pass into the heart of the United defence.

Pretty slow start but United are beginning to spray the ball around nicely. Maguire strides forward as if Luton are happy for him to take on the shot, which he does from 25 yards with his right but cuts across it and slices it miles wide. 

Maguire strolls out of defence with Hylton not pressing too intently. Lingard again drops into midfield to win the ball back when Fred miscontrolled it. He spins and heads off up the right, never threatening goal but winning a corner.  

Lua Lua dribbles down the left and surprises Wan-Bissaka by not taking him on but hitting the cross early. It surprised the other winger, Clark, too, who failed to make the back-post run to meet what turned out to be a very menacing cross. 

Good work from Lingard to take the ball on the half-turn before spinning to tee up Mata who cuts in off the right wing to scud a low shot straight at Shea. 

Nothing comes of it so United regroup and build gain with crisp passing and control until Williams is dispossessed high on the left by former Hartlepool United full-back Peter Kioso. 

The players take a  knee, some raise their fists and then United kick off, playing the ball back to Fred who knocks it up the right for Wan-Bissaka. 

For five minutes. They’re not wearing their magic eye kit but grey shirts and white shorts. At last Luton join them, wearing orange and black. 

Luton Shea, Kioso, Lockyer, Bradley, Norrington-Davies, Clark, Tunnicliffe, Moncur, LuaLua, Hylton, Shinnie.Substitutes Cranie, Pearson, Cornick, Lee, Sluga, Mpanzu, Collins.

Man Utd Henderson, Wan Bissaka, Bailly, Maguire, Williams, Fred, Matic, Mata, van de Beek, Lingard, Ighalo.Substitutes Rashford, Greenwood, Grant, Bruno Fernandes, Dalot, James, Mengi.

🎩 Your Hatters to take on @ManUtd tonight in the third round of the @Carabao_Cup 👇#COYH pic.twitter.com/iAaGegPj6l

Sir Alex Ferguson used to curse the very existence of Kenilworth Road. He hated the plastic pitch, the narrow confines of the streets around the stadium and, above all, despised the fact that on Manchester United’s last visit there in April 1992 a draw on the new grass pitch, when they were vying for the title with Leeds United, immediately preceded defeats by Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Liverpool that cost them their first championship since 1967.

Since that last meeting, United have, of course, won 13 titles, five FA Cups, four EFL Cups, two European Cups and a Europa League. Luton, who went down in 1992 and missed out on the Premier League goldrush, have spent eight years in the Championship (or its equivalent), nine in League One, six in League Two and five in the Conference. 

But at the start of the overdue renewal of this tale of the prince and the pauper (and the porpoise), Luton are on a roll, with a 100 per cent record in the Championship, having beaten Barnsley and Derby, and have knocked out Reading, top of the Champo, and newly-relegated Norwich from the cup of the Carabao and Caribou. Add that to their closing run of two draws and three victories that saved them from relegation in July, and Nathan Jones, the manager who took them up, foundered at Stoke then came back, deserves all the praise that is being showered upon him. Truly a case of ‘he knows the club’. 

Speaking of which – and let’s not forget Ole Gunnar Solskjaer faces more of this gash than Frank Lampard who has a different passport – Manchester United arrive at Kenilworth Road after a terrible performance in their defeat by Crystal Palace on Saturday. It was insipid, tactically confused and the players who instigated their revival, Bruno Fernandes in particular, looked rusty. 

But it was nothing apocalyptic as yet. They need a left-back, a centre-half, a winger and a centre-forward, to offload the accumulated detritus of seven years and not to play against a side so adept as Palace as carving teams apart on the break. They need a spark for their season and despite Ferguson’s gripes about the pitch, Kenilworth Road has always been a happy hunting ground for them. They’re unbeaten on their last five visits. 

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SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com/news/world-news-gb-manchester-united-clear-the-bench-to-overwhelm-luton-at-the-death-after-another-undercooked-start/?remotepost=316578