Luton Town boss Rob Edwards would’ve been the most deflated person in the stadium when the full-time whistle blew last Sunday.
Manchester United’s early two-goal lead courtesy of Rasmus Hojlund likely had the Kenilworth Road faithful fearing the worst when 2-0 down inside seven minutes.
The Red Devils dominated every area of the pitch at that time before, in true United fashion, the tide turned, and their inability to kill the game off haunted them again as they fought for 70+ minutes to retain their lead.
Carlton Morris halved the deficit in the 14th minute with a towering header to ignite the fire in the Hatters and raise the prospect of a comeback.
Although neither side were able to get onto the scoresheet again, goalkeepers Andre Onana and Thomas Kaminski had all the work to do across the remainder of the gritty, end-to-end match. Luton took 22 shots (four on target) and United registered 21 (nine on target).
The home side also held 59 per cent possession to the Reds’ 41 per cent.
Edwards’ honest post-match verdict
Reacting to the disheartening defeat post-match, Edwards told Luton Today: “We had to manage some counter-attacks better and we need to. It’s an area for us to focus on again.
“They have some moments with the quality and their speed. I think you look at Manchester United over the last, God knows how many years… They’ve always been a fast counter-attacking team with a lot of quality.
“They’ve done it to bigger and better teams than us. It’s Marcus Rashford and [Alejandro] Garnacho and Hojlund. These are big, big players, top players, who are very good and very quick.
“But there’s certain areas we can be better and stop those counter-attacking moments.”
