Luton Town star Andros Townsend has delivered a surprise verdict on Manchester United and explained that they played exceedingly well when the two sides met just before the ongoing international break.
United beat Luton by a single goal to nil. Victor Lindelof was the man who found the back of the net just before the half-hour mark.
For large spells of the game, United seemed unable to break Luton’s stubborn defence down despite fashioning many goalscoring opportunities.
This term, the Red Devils have been harshly criticised – and rightly so – for their dismal performances and poor results.
However, Townsend who spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live (via The Daily Mail) seemed to pour cold water on suggestions that Erik ten Hag’s side are struggling as he insisted they played like a well-coached outfit.
The Englishman said, “Extremely difficult. They are difficult. We were able to defend against them well but similar to Liverpool they just find a way. Honestly, it was an extremely tough game.”
“There was rotation all over the pitch. We were well-drilled and confident as we had just got a point against Liverpool the week before, we had a game plan to press high up the pitch and force turnovers, United didn’t really give us anything.”
Townsend pinpointed Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes for praise for their individual displays during the match at Old Trafford.
The Luton midfielder remarked, “‘Bruno Fernandes drifts out to the outside left position, links up with [Sergio] Reguilon, they get a few crosses that way,’ he said. ‘[Diogo] Dalot comes to midfield creating an overload and we did limit them to very few chances and defended well.”
“Unfortunately, we switched off at one set piece and that was our whole game plan done.”
He explained that Maguire’s ability on the ball was a useful weapon for United as it helped them beat the opposition’s press.
The 32-year-old opined that Fernandes gave Luton nothing.
Townsend further stated, “You look on the stats sheet and it might be like United didn’t do this or that but it was so difficult for us to be able to contain this United side. They posed so many problems, even if it doesn’t show up on a piece of paper.”
After the international break, United have a number of crucial fixtures coming up.
First up is a trip to face Sean Dyche’s Everton at Goodison Park on November 26.
The 20-time English champions will then fly out to Turkey to clash against Galatasaray in the hopes of saving their Champions League campaign which is currently hanging by a thread.