Luton’s wonderful run of form ended in a hugely disappointing manner as they turned in an unusually subdued performance against bottom side Sheffield United this afternoon, falling to a first defeat of the calendar year.
Kenilworth Road had been bathed in confidence ahead of the contest, manager Rob Edwards and Elijah Adebayo both up for monthly Premier League awards, with Town on a run of three wins from six, scoring four in both of their last two games and up against a Blades who hadn’t won in their last seven, and not on the road all season.
With Chris Wilder’s side having been thumped 5-0 by Aston Villa last weekend, the expectation from the majority inside the stadium was Luton would pull further clear of Everton after the Toffees’ 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in the early kick-off. As we all know though, football is never as easy as that, as Luton, with Reece Burke in for Teden Mengi, should have been behind with just 28 seconds on the clock, Gustavo Hamer flicking the ball cleverly on for John McAtee who was completely unmarked in the area.
He bent his side inches wide of the post, when he really should have picked out the bottom corner, but that was to give the Hatters a warning they ultimately failed to heed. The visitors, without striking duo Ben Brereton Diaz and Oli McBurnie, were then dealt another injury blow on five minutes, former Luton loanee Rhys Norrington-Davies colliding with the advertising hoarding and immediately signalling to the bench that his afternoon had come to a premature end.
Town threatened on eight minutes, Alfie Doughty’s free kick met by Gabe Osho who could only put his downward header off target, but that was as good as it got as despite conceding 59 goals so far this term, the Blades looked solid in the opening 20 minutes. The Hatters were unable to really create a clear-cut opportunity, Burke’s hopeful volley taking a nick on its way behind, as United were able to successfully repel another Doughty corner, which again, was to become a frustrating theme.
The visitors somehow weren’t in front on 29 minutes though when Jack Robinson’s long throw saw the ball drop just eight yards out after some head tennis, Cameron Archer completely unmarked, but scuffed wide in what was a shocking miss. However the £18m summer signing didn’t need to wait too long to turn from villain to hero as with the visitors breaking, Gabe Osho slipped, allowing the former Aston Villa forward to race into the box and with Amari’i Bell covering his man instead of closing him down, it gave the forward acres of time to find the bottom corner.
Leave a Reply