Maguire reserves special praise for ‘technically brilliant’ Man Utd team-mate after narrow Luton win

Joe Williams
Man Utd defender Harry Maguire
Harry Maguire claps the supporters after a win.

Harry Maguire has praised “technically brilliant” Manchester United team-mate Victor Lindelof after the Swede scored the winning goal against Luton Town on Saturday.

The Red Devils secured a much-needed victory over the Hatters with the result easing some of the growing pressure on Erik ten Hag to deliver better results and performances.

Their 4-3 loss to Copenhagen in the Champions League on Wednesday was their ninth defeat in just 17 matches in all competitions this campaign – but their victory over Luton moved them up to sixth in the Premier League table.

Man Utd have Lindelof to thank for their victory with the Sweden international hammering an effort home from the edge of the six-yard box to give Ten Hag’s side all three points.

And Maguire, who has faced a lot of criticism over the last couple of seasons, was full of praise for his centre-back partner after the match.

Maguire said: “Victor [Lindelof] is technically brilliant. You’ve seen over the years that he’s a great footballer. I’m really pleased for him, he was brilliant today.

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“Set plays are a big part of the game and today we won from the second phase of a set play. We’ve improved this year because, in my time at this club, we haven’t been good enough at attacking set plays.”

Lindelof admits Man Utd have not “been playing at the highest level” this season and that the Red Devils are now aiming to start scoring more goals.

“We want to score more goals and that’s the next step for us,” Lindelof told MUTV. “Right now the most important thing is the three points and the result.

“But after that we have to keep going, keep working and building and hopefully we can score goals, close the game and not make it difficult for ourselves. But it’s step by step.

“We haven’t been playing at the highest level and we know that. We’ve just got to keep working hard.

“We’re (not far) off the top four, and it shows that even if we’re not playing at the highest level, we can still get a result.”

On his goal, Lindelof added: “It’s always special and nice to score a goal – I don’t score that many anymore. To score the match-winner in front of the Stretford End is a special feeling and I felt that today.

“I saw the ball drop and I was thinking to myself ‘just try and hit it quite hard and quite high’. It was a good goal, I think. After the goal we dropped a little bit but, like I said, three points was the most important thing.”