Luton Town vs Manchester United final score, result, highlights: Hojlund quickfire double seals win

Dom Farrell

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Luton Town vs Manchester United final score, result, highlights: Hojlund quickfire double seals win image

Rasmus Hojlund's early brace was enough to give Manchester United a 2-1 win in a pulsating Premier League encounter with Luton Town.

Hojlund headed into the match at Kenilworth Road having scored in each of his past five matches in the top flight. The Denmark striker extended that run to six in six as he capitalised on an error from Amari'i Bell inside the first minute.

In the seventh minute, Hojlund produced a clever piece of improvisation to divert Alejandro Garnacho's shot into the net with his chest.

At that stage, United were threatening to run away with things, but Morris stole in between Luke Shaw and Andre Onana to head home from Tahith Chong's deflected effort and score his third in as many matches.

Luton vs Man United final score

  Fulltime Goalscorers
Luton 1 Morris (14')
Man United 2 Hojlund (1', 7')

Lineups

Luton (3-4-3 right to left): 24. Thomas Kaminski (GK) — 15. Teden Mengi, 2. Gabriel Osho, 29. Amari'i Bell — 7. Chiedozie Ogbene, 6. Ross Barkley, 28. Albert Sambi Lokonga, 45. Alfie Doughty — 14. Tahith Chong (18. Jordan Clark), 10. Cauley Woodrow (30. Andros Townsend), 9. Carlton Morris.

Man United (4-2-3-1, right to left): 24. Andre Onana (GK) — 20. Diogo Dalot, 5. Harry Maguire (35. Jonny Evans), 19. Raphael Varane, 23. Luke Shaw (2. Victor Lindelof) — 18. Casemiro (39. Scott McTominay), 37. Kobbie Mainoo — 17. Alejandro Garnacho, 8. Bruno Fernandes, 10. Marcus Rashford — 11. Rasmus Hojlund (4. Sofyan Amrabat).

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Casemiro and Harry Maguire were then booked as the hosts enjoyed a rampant spell and Shaw departed through injury before the break to give Erik ten Hag plenty to think about.

Luton continued to ask questions of United in the second half, although Rob Edwards saw his team's final ball let them down too often. At the other end, goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski produced a string of inspired saves to ensure an enthralling game got the grandstand finish it deserved.

Ross Barkley glanced an injury-time corner against the crossbar for the Hatters as United held out for a hard-earned success that moved them to within three points of fifth-place Tottenham and possible Champions League football next season.

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Luton vs Man United analysis

Hotshot Hojlund makes Premier League history

Hojlund might have helped himself to five goals in United's ill-fated Champions League group campaign, but his 14 games without a Premier League goal came to feel torturous. Since breaking his duck against Aston Villa in December, he has not looked back. After 37 seconds at Kenilworth Road, he had a goal in a sixth consecutive Premier League outing — the youngest player ever to do so at 21 years and 14 days old, ahead of Joe Willock and a certain Erling Haaland.

United's failure to control the middle section of the game underlined how we're not at the milk-and-honey phase of Ten Hag's tenure just yet and it was impressive and concerning in equal measure how much the veteran Jonny Evans improved their defensive poise after halftime. However, Hojlund has something special going on, with a settled attacking lineup around him. Garnacho was a menace all afternoon and Marcus Rashford continues to look more like his old self. Bruno Fernandes pulling the strings behind that livewire trio adds up to a formidable proposition.

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Will Luton be relegated from the Premier League?

The most pivotal day in Luton's fight against the drop might come away from the field this week if Everton find out the result of their appeal against a 10-point penalty for breaching Profit and Sustainability Rules. Any weakening of their punishment would drop Luton back into the bottom three. Edwards' men are a point outside the drop zone in 17th at the moment, but the impressive verve and fearlessness of their play was again a delight to behold.

It would have been easy for the hosts to disappear beneath United's attacking waves but they turned the first half on its head after Morris' goal. Ten Hag's side fashioned the better chances after the interval but Luton surpassed their foes with 22 shots to 21. Contrast this with how fellow promoted sides Burnley and Sheffield United have subsided this season and it's hard not to be full of admiration for Edwards' exciting team.

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Luton vs Man United live updates, highlights, and commentary

Fulltime: Clark drives across goal, Evans gets in the way. United survive. Remarkably, the scoring in this game was wrapped up inside 14 minutes but what a fantastic contest. Ten Hag has the win to close in on the top five and keep United in the Champions League hunt. Once again, Luton show that if this is a one-season stay in the Premier League they absolutely will not be going quietly. They're a delight. Thanks for joining us.

90th minute+4: Barkley hits the crossbar! Luton's star midfielder got in front of Rashford to glance against the top of the bar. 

90th minute+3: Fernandes boots the ball straight to Kaminski. That was dumb. Ogbene goes up the other end and wins a corner because that's what Luton do.

90th minute+2: Ogbene runs at Dalot. It's another for the Luton corner count. Evans heads clear. He's been quietly excellent. United break. Fernandes, Rashford and Garnacho all combine but the latter runs out of room. United will take their time over this corner.

90th minute: Into the final minute. Bell wins a corner. It scoots across to Ogbene and Amrabat measures his defensive duties well. There will be four added minutes.

89th minute: Garnacho breaks. He aims a cross for Evans, the veteran centre-back who is the furthest player forward for a team defending a 2-1 lead. Nice normal game of football we're having.

88th minute: Fernandes blows a huge chance to seal the points! Kaminski's eventful afternoon continues with him chipping a clearance straight to Fernandes, who drives into the box and fires just wide of the far post. He should have scored.

87th minute: Bell approaches the United box but there's crossed wires with Morris and the opportunity passes.

86th minute: Hojlund makes way for Amrabat to shore up the United midfield. Will the young striker prove to be the match-winner? That brace seems an awfully long time ago.

85th minute: The pattern of the half continues as United deal with a Luton set piece, Garnacho breaks but a scampering Lokonga gets back to pick his pocket.

78th minute: Garnacho leads another United attack and finds Hojliund on a hat-trick. Kaminiski stands his ground with another terrific save.

77th minute: The free-kick is cleared but the ball comes back in. Of course it does. Ogbene looks to turn goalwards but Varane takes the sting off the shot and Onana can pounce on it.

75th minute: Mainoo the latest United player into the book for scything into a challenge on Clark. Replays suggest he got the ball. That feels harsh. Either way, Luton have a free-kick in a dangerous position.

71th minute: Townsend not long on for Luton earns a booking. Fernandes likes the look of this free-kick on he left. Kaminiski beats away from his near post. Now Garnacho again, who sees a strike deflected behind by Lokonga. United definitely looking the most likely now.

67th minute: Garnacho unable to finish! Rashford booms a ball through for Garnacho. He's one-on-one but Kaminski gets it right this time, touching the ball as the United youngster tries to round him. At the second attempt, a combination of Bell and Kaminski smother the shot.

66th minute: Doughty wins another Luton corner bit he's aghast Chong didn't play him in a few moments earlier. Evans half-clears the set piece, Ogbene lofts a shot from outside he box that Onana reads.

64th minute: Garnacho turns on the edge of the area and shoots way over. Impossible to keep the Argentinean winger out of the game at the moment.

62nd minute: Fernandes pulls a left-wing corner out to the edge of the box, where Garnacho is unattended. Kaminski does well to get behind his strike.

60th minute: Incredible block from Lokonga! Garnacho plays Fernandes through on the counter and Kaminski has come too far. He's in no-man's land, Fernandes goes around him but Lokonga flies in to make a goal-saving challenge.

59th minute: Barkley lines one up from about 30 yards but it's high, wide and not so handsome.

57th minute: More really good attacking play from Luton as Chong dances around Garnacho. Again the final ball is lacking though. United respond and it's Rashford tearing in from the right. Kaminski gets down to make a fine save.

54th minute: Osho blasts into a tackle on Hojlund to get Luton moving again. Doughty flashes a ball across the face of goal but he probably struck that one too hard.

48th minute: Fabulous darting run across the field from right-back by Dalot, who briefly looks to have got there ahead of Kaminski before the Luton goalkeeper recovers. Back up the other end, Woodrow has a try. We're back to end-to-end fayre.

47th minute: Garnacho into the Luton box. He picks out Hojlund, who lays it up for Fernandes to shoot into a crowd of bodies.

46th minute: United get us back underway and Ten Hag has made a pair of changes, with Maguire and Casemiro off and Evans and McTominay on. It doesn't take a leap of a imagination to conclude the two withdrawn players being on bookings was key to the Dutchman's thinking.

Halftime: This looked like turning into a procession as United started in irresistible form, two more goals from Rasmus Hojlund continuing his hot streak. But Luton hit back through Carlton Morris and the first half turned into a bit of an ordeal for United and fantastic entertainment for everyone else. Join us again shortly to see how this one pans out.

49th minute+4: Bell ends the half more impressively than he started it as he makes a block to deny Garnacho.

45th minute+2: United forced into a change with Luke Shaw coming off. Victor Lindelof will be playing out of position at left-back against a Luton team bombing down the flanks. All the very best!

45th minute+1: Doughty tears in off the left flank and shoots just wide from the edge of the box. He should do much better but had to take the shot on his weaker right foot. 

45th minute: Rashford into the Luton box and tries to twist past Mengi and Lokonga. The United forward goes down in a flail of limbs. Lokonga inadvertently caught him in the face with a stray hand. We're going to have four added minutes. This has been breathless stuff.

44th minute: Onana's lining up of his wall looks a little haphazard but Doughty fires his shot into the waiting defensive barrier.

42nd minute: Casemiro lets Barkley go, knowing he's on thin ice. Here's Morris, who squares up Maguire and is fouled in comic fashion on the edge of the box. United need halftime.

40th minute: Casemiro survives. He's now shouting at Garnacho. I'm not sure what he's done wrong. United's most experienced midfielder has lost his head a little bit and is really quite fortunate to still be on the field.

39th minute: Ohhh, Casemiro, what have you done? Already booked. Lunges in on Barkley after a poor touch.

38th minute: Morris wins a foul off Maguire, who gives him an earful as Luton take quickly and break. Luton and Morris in particular are rattling United right now.

36th minute: Ogbene on the charge down the right. He finds Lokonga on the edge of the box, where Rashford dashes back to make a fine challenge. But United try to return fire too quickly and concede possession again. Morris fizzes a shot just wide from the edge of the box. Ten Hag's men are playing Luton's game at the moment and it's not doing them an undue amount of favours.

35th minute: Doughty swings it in, Varane half-clears. Luton keep the attack alive, Barkley dances away from Fernandes, who sticks to his task well. Chong is offside and United can breathe.

34th minute: Oh, blimey. Casemiro is very experienced but that's very dense. The ex-Real Madrid man tries to pull out of a lunge on Bell, fails to do so and gets his booking. 

33rd minute: Casemiro brings down Morris. "HOW MANY NOW???" the Luton forward hollers at the referee. Only Casemiro's second foul of the game, if you're asking Carlton. Sometimes a man's reputation precedes him.

31st minute: Howler from Maguire, who spears a pass straight to Barkley. The former Everton man plays in Woodrow, whose run takes him wide and Varane makes the block. Osho gets up to meet the resulting corner and, really, should do better than heading high and wide.

28th minute: Hojlund and Mainoo combine beautifully in midfield, with the latter taking a whack for his troubles. Fernandes now has a backpedalling defence in his sights but the Portugal playmaker's pass for Garnacho is shy of his usual standard.

24th minute: Doughty whips in a lovely ball from the left, as he often does. Morris gets there first but can't keep his header down. Shaw and Maguire completely lost Ogbene between them there.

20th minute: Barkley whips one in but Osho can't trouble Onana.

19th minute: Shaw follows Woodrow into the book due to a pretty desperate foul on Ogbene. Luton will launch this into the box.

18th minute: Mengi catches his former team-mate Rashford with an arm on the head. The United forward reacts by clattering into Ogbene. Hard to work out who might be more annoyed with Mengi!

14th minute: GOOOOAAAALLLL!!!! Carlton Morris!!!!

Now then, game on! Woodrow gets down the United right and finds Chong, whose shot is deflected and loops towards the back post where Morris steals in ahead of Shaw to score his third goal in as many games. Onana could maybe have done better but Morris was brave in getting to the header.

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13th minute: Mainoo knits together a United attack down the Luton left. He finds the heavily involved Garnacho, whose shot is gathered by Kaminski.

12th minute: Ogbene darts in from the right flank to get on the end of Lokonga's searching ball. He manages it but it's a routine save for Onana.

10th minute: United absolutely all over Luton. Rashford drives through midfield, past Barkley and thumps wide from the edge of the area. He might have passed there but the England forward was on a rampaging run.

7th minute: GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!! Rasmus Hojlund!!!

When you're hot, you're hot. Luton half clear a corner, Garnacho spanks a shot back towards the goalmouth, it hits Hojlund and goes in. One second viewing, that's a really smart piece of play from Hojlund, who turned his chest purposefully to divert the ball into the opposite corner.

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4th minute: It's a truly torrid start for Bell, who sees Garnacho glide past him to set up Rashford for a blistering strike. The shot is closer to Kaminiski, though, who is able to turn it to safety.

1st minute: GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!! Rasmus Hojlund!!!

Bell makes a mess of the bouncing ball under pressure from Garnacho and inadvertently plays Hojliund though on goal. The striker takes the ball around Kaminski to score with the confident of man who has now scored in each of his past six matches.

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1st minute: We're underway, Luton look to attack straight away. Casemiro hoofs the ball straight down field, oh, look at this...

5 mins before kickoff: Here come the teams into the late winter sunshine. A crackling atmosphere awaits.

10 mins before kickoff: Luton have been forced into a late change and it's a big one, with star forward Elijah Adebayo forced out with an injury sustained in the warm-up. Cauley Woodrow replaces him.

15 mins before kickoff: Luton club captain Tom Lockyer is telling Sky Sports that he expects his team-mates to stick to their man-to-man marking approach, with the back three matching up to Garnacho, Hojlund and Rashford in the United attack. If that's the case, blimey. Hold onto your hats!

40 mins before kickoff: Sheffield United are busy getting battered at home again, this time by Brighton. Their win at Luton could really end up looking like one of this season's great anomalies. Prior to being well-beaten 3-1 by the Blades, Luton were undefeated in 2024. Their previous defeat saw them give Chelsea a late scare in a 3-2 reverse. Arsenal needed a last-gasp winner from Declan Rice at Kenilworth Road, Liverpool burgled a late draw thanks to Luis Diaz and Manchester City also had to come from behind to win at this unique ground. Do not expect United to have it easy this afternoon.

58 mins before kickoff: And this is Rob Edwards' Luton team, with Taden Mengi and Tahith Chong coming in to face their former club.

1 hour before kickoff: Here are the teams. Ten Hag has stuck with the same XI that won in dramatic circumstances at Villa Park last weekend.

1 hr 15 mins before kickoff: When Manchester United lost at Nottingham Forest in their final match of 2023, Erik ten Hag looked like he might be on borrowed time. However, the Red Devils are now on an upward curve, finding better midfield balance with the returning Casemiro and prodigious youngster Kobbie Mainoo. Expect those two to be in the confirmed teams we will receive shortly, along with Rasmus Hojlund. The Danish striker had to endure a long wait for his first Premier League goal but has now hit a purple patch, scoring in each of his past five outings across all competitions.

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1 hr 30 mins before kickoff: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of Manchester United's trip to Luton Town in the Premier League.

Luton vs Man United lineups, team news

Teden Mengi and Tahith Chong came in to face their former club, while star forward Elijah Adebayo was forced out with an injury sustained during the warm-up. Cauley Woodrow replaces him in attack.

Luton (3-4-3 right to left): Kaminski (GK) — Mengi, Osho, Bell — Ogbene, Barkley, Lokonga, Doughty — Chong, Woodrow, Morris.

Luton subs (9): Krul (GK), Berry, Woodrow, Kabore, Burke, Mpanzu, Clark, Townsend, Nelson

Ten Hag stuck with the same XI that beat Aston Villa last weekend, with Luke Shaw passed fit.

Man United (4-2-3-1, right to left): Onana (GK) — Dalot, Maguire, Varane, Shaw — Casemiro, Mainoo — Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford — Hojlund.

Man United subs (9): Bayindir, Lindelof, Amrabat, Eriksen, Diallo, Antony, Evans, McTominay, Forson

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Dom Farrell

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Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.