Hojlund’s brace within the first seven minutes helped his team secure a 2-1 win and climb the league table, narrowing the gap to fifth-placed Tottenham to just three points. This marks their fourth consecutive victory, putting them five points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa. Hojlund even made history by becoming the youngest Premier League player to score in six straight games, solidifying his hot streak.
The young striker impressed Gary Neville with his physical dominance, drawing comparisons to star player Erling Haaland.
He said: “Hojlund looked like a Haaland in the making – that power, that strength and aggression in his running. I’ve always like that about a Manchester United centre-forward.”
Neville was also impressed with United’s resolve in dealing with Luton’s late onslaught.
The second half was better than the first, it was a considered performance, more measured. Evans and Varane looked composed and the midfield took control of the game. They had four big chances, well done to Thomas Kaminski – he did really well. But they couldn’t finish Luton off. United had to defend their box well as Luton had five corners in the last few minutes, Evans cleared three of them. At a ground where it’s back to the olden days, it felt like an FA Cup tie – and it was a test of United’s mettle to defend set-pieces and cope with it. They did that in the second half.
NEVILLE: SPURS, VILLA WILL BE FEELING THE PRESSURE
“You can feel Ten Hag is more confident in his team and that they’re in a better place,” said Neville. “He’ll fancy hunting down Tottenham and Villa for the top four. They’ll be feeling the pressure.
“I’m not saying Man Utd will get there but there is a bit between their teeth.”
“We are back in the race and are building momentum,” said the Manchester United boss. “We need to build the pressure on them. Every game is a final to get close.
“It could’ve been an easy game after 10 minutes but we made it a difficult game as we didn’t take the chances. We had big chances with (Alejandro) Garnacho and (Marcus) Rashford and then we dropped too deep. We allowed them back in the game.
“Maybe it was too easy in the first 10 minutes – you see with some players they go a little bit less, you can’t afford to do that against a side like Luton who are on an upward trend. You have to be 100 per cent focused and that’s what we lost after 10 minutes.”