Ole Gunnar Solskjaer re-adjusted the starting IX and Manchester United advanced to the next round with 3–0 over Luton Town
Three late substitutions by Manchester United manager (with Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Mason Greenwood entering the game in 78th minute) aided an incredibly changed team to overcome Luton Town 3–0 at Kenilworth Road to advance to the Carabao Cup fourth round.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer changed the entire configuration of his starting lineup keeping only captain Harry Maguire on his position as the likes of Jesse Lingard, Odion Ighalo and Juan Mata were granted rare starts.
Here are the starting lineups for both teams:
Luton Town: Shea, Kioso (Booked a yellow card at 67mins), Lockyer, Bradley, Norrington-Davies, Shinnie, Tunnicliffe, Moncur, Clark, Hylton (Booked a yellow card at 85mins), LuaLua
Manchester United: Dean Henderson, Wan-Bissaka, Bailly, Maguire, Williams (Booked a yellow card at 57mins), Fred, Matic, Mata (Substituted for Greenwood at 78' minutes), van de Beek (Substituted for Bruno Fernandes at 78' minutes), Lingard, Ighalo (Substituted for Rashford at 79' minutes)
With this starting lineup Ole’s team was able to defend effectively and had a lot of great options to give the ball such as Juan Mata (who was the Man of the Match), Nemanja Matic, Fred, Bailly and Lingard who entered the game fresh and rife with confidence and demonstrated their defensive and offensive qualities and so added clues such as stability and dominance on the pitch — two things Ole’s team didn’t have in the first game of the season against Crystal Palace.
Both teams had one goal and that was to keep the possession and attack when feasible.
The returns of Bailly and Williams had a critical effect on the defensive end as United deterred Luton from shooting on target in the first half (0/6 shots on target for Luton) and they weren’t remiss with the ball.
Manchester United had some opportunities to score in the first half but due to a collection of weak shots couldn’t send the ball to the net. However, with 43 minutes into the game, George Moncur tripped Williams inside the box, veteran Juan Mata took the penalty and converted it to a goal (0–1).
- Since the start of last season, Manchester United have both taken (23) and scored (19) more penalties in all competitions than any other English league side. Inevitable.
In the second half, both teams played more aggressively as Luton was seeking an opportunity to tie the game and United was vying for a second goal that would probably seal the victory and advancement to the next round of the Cabacao Cup. After a massive number of missing chances, in 78th minute, Ole decided to make three substitutions to boost his offensive scheme: Juan Mata went out for Greenwood, Ighalo was substituted for Marcus Rashford and new signing Van De Beek was substituted for Bruno Fernandes.
A minute later, Luton missed a terrific opportunity to equalize the game when Tom Lockyer’s header was warded off the post after the intervention of goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who was really impressive on his debut, and seconds later, Lockyer jumped on the rebound and booted the ball towards the post but fortunately, Eric Bailly was on the line to clear the defender’s rebound.
“It’s the job our goalkeeper has to sometimes do. He has to stay concentrated, and make saves when needed. David de Gea has done that for years and years — Dean did that today,” Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer commented on Henderson’s notable save.
During the final minutes of the game, in 88th minute and 90+3, Rashford and Greenwood were effective with the ball as each scored a goal to give United the ticket for the next round in which their opponent remains to be divulged after tomorrow’s game between Brighton and Preston. Just to point out that Greenwood’s goal was his first of the season.
“The score flatters them massively, but for 85 minutes I thought we were outstanding, considering where we’ve come from, the squad and the budget. We’ve had to go for it late on.
“They brought on Rashford, Bruno and Greenwood and when they turned the ball over quickly, they’re in at you. The two late goals were two counter-attacks when we were trying to get the goal back but I’m so proud of them.
It took a penalty for them to take the lead but I thought structurally we were brilliant. It was a very unnecessary penalty and if you defend well in those areas, you don’t concede the penalty.
I thought we grew into the game. United had about 18 internationals today so I’m beaming with pride. The late goals put a gloss on it for them which made me a little bit sick in the stomach but I couldn’t be more proud,” said Luton’s head coach Nathan Jones.
Man of the match — Juan Mata
Mata marked his 200th United start in style and was the one bright spark for the visitors. He produced 50 passes and had four attempts on goal, the most of any player.
He told Sky Sports: “It was one of those games where if you lose, it’s a mess, so we did what we had to do. We did a professional job today and sometimes played some good football.
“It’s job done after we know the result at the weekend wasn’t good enough. The save Henderson made was very important as it was 1–0 at the time. I think we did OK. We haven’t trained much so now it’s about getting the confidence and the rhythm back.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjær on the transfer window:
‘’We’re working with the [players] we have at the moment, we’ll let you know if there are any changes.’’
They definitely need a centre back, a full-back and a forward. Rumours have alluded to team’s interest to add Jadon Sancho, who is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund.
The transfer window will close on October 5th so they have some time to reconsider their plans and go after a player that will help them erase their issues on their defense.