Rasmus Hojlund’s early double proved enough to secure Manchester United an absorbing 2-1 Premier League victory at Luton Town on Sunday (Feb 18) and push them closer to the battle for the top four. In-form Danish striker Hojlund pounced on a defensive error to give United the lead after 37 seconds and then made it 2-0 with only seven minutes on the clock to put his side in control. The 21-year-old has now scored in six successive Premier League games – the youngest player ever to do so.
Relegation battlers Luton dusted themselves down from Hojlund’s early salvo though and responded with Carlton Morris’s brave header halving the deficit in the 14th minute. The only surprise then in a wide-open game was that there were no more goals as both sides carved out good chances.
Sixth-placed Man United was guilty of wasting several gilt-edged opportunities in the second half while Luton’s Ross Barkley headed against the crossbar in stoppage time.
United’s fourth successive league win put it on 44 points from 25 games, five points behind Aston Villa which is fourth.
Hojlund took until December to score his first Premier League goal since United paid 72 million pounds ($90.71 million) to sign him from Italian club Atalanta in August. But he is now paying back that transfer fee, taking the heat off manager Erik ten Hag and helping United make a strong charge towards qualification for the UEFA Champions League.
