Luton Town is playing in the Championship (First place) and this team is in good shape with two wins from the start of the season, are in third place. Therefore, Man Utd coach Solskjaer did not dare to contemptuous when his team was a guest against Luton in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
It seems that Man Utd’s opening match against Crystal Palace makes Solskjaer very afraid to lose. For two reasons, the Norwegian strategist did not bring any of the U23 players to the Luton field, as the big clubs often did in the early Carabao Cup.
All 18 Man Utd players attending the match at Kenilworth Road were members of the main squad. However, compared to the starting lineup in the last match against Crystal Palace, Solskjaer retained only captain Maguire. Notably, goalkeeper Henderson had his debut game "Red Devils", new midfielder moved to Van de Beek was also kicked in at No. 10.
With a strong squad, it is not surprising that Man Utd excels in statistics. The "Red Devils" controlled the ball 58% of the time, launching 19 shots, and hitting the goal 12 times. The home team controlled the ball 42% of the time, had 10 shots and only hit the ball twice, all of which failed to get past Henderson’s hands.
Henderson made his debut at Man Utd when he was included in the official squad of the "Red Devils"
Despite being superior in statistics, the victory of Man Utd is not easy. Playing not too prominent in the first half, until 44 minutes, Mata helped the visitors open the score from the penalty spot. The goal to take the lead to untie Man Utd’s players helped them play better in the second half, but it was not until the 88th minute that Rashford doubled the gap for Man Utd.
Luton had nothing to lose, they had to come up strong and the home team lost to the third goal in the third minute, Greenwood set a 3-0 victory for Man Utd to help Solskjaer’s army win. won and registered in the 4th round of the Carabao Cup.
Man Utd players celebrated after Mata’s opening goal
Having to play under pressure not to lose makes it a bit difficult for Man Utd players to be a guest on Luton’s field, the opponent is inferior in both class and team quality compared to "Red Devils". 14 minutes, the first chance to score came to the visitors, Mata finished one touch in the center of the penalty area, the ball went down towards the goal but was blocked by goalkeeper Shea.
The match took place quite interestingly with situations of a tit-for-tat attack between the two teams. The similarity of both sides is that their shots go out more in, so the goalkeepers do not have to work too hard.
The turning point of the match came in the 44th minute when Williams brought a penalty to the visitors, Man Utd’s young defender penetrated the penalty area, he deftly covered the opponent and caused the opponent to foul. Mata easily deceived Shea goalkeeper from the 11m point to bring back the opening goal for "Red Devils".
Fred (left, Man Utd) plays on Luton’s field
Having been led down, Luton was forced to push the attacking squad in the second half. Man Utd held a good defense and created many counterattacks, Lingard was given a lot of chances to finish, but he failed to finish, most of them kicked the ball out.
In the 82nd minute, Henderson delivered a superb save as he pushed the header near Lockyer’s left post. The stability of the English goalkeeper helps Man Utd to be more confident in counterattacks. In the 88th minute, two players came on the field to replace Greenwood and Rashford together in the middle, Rashford put the ball at the top of the box and put the ball in the right corner of the goal, making Shea watch.
In the second minute of stoppage time, Greenwood scored in a forte-style goal with his left foot from the right side of the box. The shot of the young English player came quite suddenly, so even though the ball went close, Shea could not stop. Greenwood’s goal ended a sweet victory for Man Utd, although the Carabao Cup is not really important, this victory will certainly help to relieve Man Utd pressure.
Squad
Luton: Shea, Tunnicliffe, Bradley, Hylton, Shinnie, Moncur (Lee, 75 ’), Lockyer, Clark (Cornick, 75’), Kioso, Norrington-Davies, Lualua.
Man Utd: Henderson, Wan-Bissaka, Williams, Bailly, Maguire, Fred, Matic, Mata (Greenwood, 79 ’), Van de Beek, Lingard (Fernandes, 79’), Ighalo (Rashford, 79 ’)
