Luton Town FC vs Cardiff City (6th Nov 2024)

06/11/2024 LUTON TOWN 2-1 CARDIFF CITY

Brown header gives Hatters victory

The forward's second-half goal gives the Town their first win in three games

A bullet header from Jacob Brown was the difference as the Town back to winning ways with a narrow victory against in-form Cardiff.

The forward netted his second goal of the season to give the Hatters their first win in three games to lift them out of the Championship relegation zone.

Brown rose highest in a crowded penalty area to nod home Alfie Doughty’s left-wing corner shortly before the hour to seal the Town’s first win since beating Watford last month.

In truth, it was the highlight of a game low on goalmouth action. The closest the Town came in the opening 45 minutes was a Carlton Morris header that flashed over the bar following Doughty’s left-wing cross.

Morris and his teammates were convinced the Town should have had a penalty when Callum Chambers handled in the box – only for referee Matt Dononue to wave away the appeals and book Morris for his protests.

Cardiff had showed glimpses of why they arrived in Bedfordshire as one of the Championship’s form teams in the first half, and seven minutes after the start of the second half the Bluebirds came close to taking the lead. The Town needed the fine agility of Thomas Kaminski to turn away a top-corner bound diving header from substitute Yakou Meite.

But five minutes later the Hatters were in front. Morris won a corner down the left which was swung in dangerously by Doughty. Brown lost his marker in the penalty area to thump a header past Jak Alnwick in the visitors’ goal.

Immediately from the restart Kaminski was needed once more, springing away with a fine fingertip save to prevent David Turnbull’s audacious effort from finding the corner.

But that would prove to be the last time the Town keeper was called into action as the Hatters ended the game strongly.

Substitute Elijah Adebayo almost flicked home Morris’ cross on 69 minutes and Mark McGuinness, strong in defence all night against his former club, saw a header from a Doughty corner stopped by Alnwick six minutes later.

As time ticked down the Town held firm and despite a late injury to Doughty that saw 10 minutes of added time played.

Cardiff pushed for the latest of levellers but were off wildly off target with two tame efforts and the Hatters were able to celebrate a deserved win.

Town: Kaminski; Hashioka, Doughty, McGuinness, Bell, Mengi; Krauß (sub Nakamba 88), Clark, Chong (sub Baptiste 65); Brown (sub Adebayo 61), Morris.

Subs not used: Krul, Moses, Woodrow, Mpanzu, Walsh, Holmes.

Attendance: 10,646, including 1,035 from Cardiff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7npago2tcFA – Rob Edwards post match interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXXVOaI9h3E – match highlights

Brown's bullet header earns Luton a much-needed victory over Cardiff

Championship: Luton Town 1 Cardiff City 0

Jacob Brown's second goal of the season saw Luton end Cardiff City's sprightly run of form with battling 1-0 victory at Kenilworth Road this evening.

The Hatters had gone into the game desperate for a victory having not tasted victory since defeating Watford last month, as the Bluebirds were unbeaten in six, winning four, although were yet to triumph on the road this term. It stayed that way too thanks to Brown's powerful second half header, as Town, based on their display after the interval, deserved to claim the points.

Boss Rob Edwards made two changes from Friday night's 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion, Alfie Doughty returning from suspension in place of Victor Moses and Brown preferred upfront to Elijah Adebayo, centre half Tom Holmes fit enough to be on the bench too. That meant defender Mark McGuinness faced the side he began the campaign with, while City had Luton promotion hero Ethan Horvath on the bench after his move to Wales earlier in the year.

City had the best early opportunity, Anwar El Ghazi glancing a corner wide inside two minutes, as Town took a fair while to get going, Doughty springing Morris away on the left who was able to pick out new strike partner Brown, his swivel and shot easy for visiting stopper Jak Alnwick. Cardiff responded with Callum Robinson blazing over the top as the game degenerated into a decidedly stodgy affair with precious few highlights to mention, City taking an age over their goal kicks and Luton unable to get any kind of momentum going.

It meant there was absolutely nothing to report on apart from Jordan Clark winning a corner that was cleared by the first man, with Daiki Hashioka's cross gathered by an alert Alnwick on the half hour, literally as good as it got. There was a then a brief flurry of action to liven up a dire first half, Kaminski's handling spot on from El Ghazi's driven free kick, while at the other end, Luton finally created something meaningful, Bell's cross met by the hanging Morris, who got too much on his header.

Robinson saw his ambitious lob fly over the top, before the only real talking point of a dour opening period, Town having huge shouts for a penalty on 43 minutes when Doughty's free kick was met by Morris at the far post. His prod back across goal hit the arm of visiting defender Calum Chambers and bounced behind, referee Matt Donohue signalling for a corner instead of pointing to the spot.

An apoplectic Morris couldn't contain his rage that he wasn't stepping up from 12 yards, Donohue piling even more pain on by booking Town's skipper for his animated and vocal protests. After the break, Cardiff brought on Yakou Meite, who scored four goals at this stadium when a Reading player during the Covid days, and he might had another to his collection when unfurling a diving header that would have looped into the top corner but for the fingertips of Kaminski.

Crucially, it was Luton who took the lead on 57 minutes when Doughty, whose corners had been hit and miss all night, often cleared by the first man, then got it spot on, Brown meeting it with a header that flew in via the underside of the bar. Now with the advantage, Luton almost saw it gone within a second, as from the restart, Rubin Colwill found David Turnbull who tried his luck from inside his own half, Kaminski scampering to his left to palm away.

Brown was then taken off for Adebayo on the hour mark, with Shandon Baptiste also quickly entering the fray for Tahith Chong. Town did finally start to put some good moves together, particularly on their left, as Morris held the ball up well to backheel for Doughty, his low cross unable to be turned home by the lurking Adebayo.

Turnbull had another ambitious crack from range, but the impressive Tom Krauß threw his body in the way to ensure it popped up harmlessly into the gloves of Kaminski. With 15 minutes remaining another Doughty set-piece caused a spark of danger, McGuinness leaping highest to meet it, Alnwick off his line to claim before Clark could spin and get any meaningful connection.

Town showed flashes of getting a second to kill things off, Adebayo doing a brilliant job in alleviating the pressure on his team-mates, just unable to accelerate away after a wonderful dummy, eventually caught by the covering City defence. He also had the ball in the net but was adjudged offside, as despite the narrow margin of Luton’s lead, it always looked like the hosts would keep their opponents out, Cian Ashford and Calum Chambers firing hopeful attempts waywardly wide.

In stoppage time, there was a real concern when Doughty went down holding his foot as a stretcher was called for. However, he was able to hobble off and somehow come back on for the final moments, as the wingback now looks a real doubt for Saturday's trip to Middlesbrough. Town will head there out of the relegation zone though, the success meaning Edwards' side climbed up to 19th in the table after securing an important fourth win of the campaign.

Hatters: Thomas Kaminski, Daiki Hashioka, Teden Mengi, Mark McGuinness, Amari'i Bell, Alfie Doughty, Tom Krauß (Marvelous Nakamba 89), Jordan Clark, Tahith Chong (Shandon Baptiste 65), Carlton Morris (C), Jacob Brown (Elijah Adebayo 60).

Subs not used: Tim Krul, Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, Victor Moses, Liam Walsh, Tom Holmes, Cauley Woodrow.

Bluebirds: Jak Alnwick ©, Manolis Siopis (Wilfried Kanga 83), Dimitros Goutas, Callum O'Dowda, Calum Chambers, David Turnbull, Anwar El Ghazi (Chris Willock 70), Rubin Colwill, Ollie Tanner (Yakou Meite 46), Perry Ng, Callum Robinson (Cian Ashford 70).

Subs not used: Ethan Horvath, Will Fish, Jesper Daland, Joel Bagan, Andy Rinomhota.

Referee: Matt Donohue.

Booked : Morris 45, Mengi 84, Goutas 86.

Attendance: 10,646 (1,035 Bluebirds).

Edwards thought Luton 'deserved' to end Bluebirds unbeaten run

Town triumph thanks to Brown’s winner

Luton boss Rob Edwards thought his side ‘deserved’ to claim all three points against Cardiff City this evening, as Jacob Brown’s goal just before the hour mark ensured they did just that with a 1-0 victory.

Going up against one of the form teams in the Championship, Town’s visitors unbeaten throughout the whole of October, winning four and drawing two of their last six matches, an unexciting first period saw precious little goalmouth action until the Hatters had huge appeals for a penalty turned down just before the break when Carlton Morris’s cross was handled by Calum Chambers.

Referee Matt Donohue gave nothing despite the fierce protests from Luton’s skipper, but the hosts didn’t let the decision get to them, taking the lead early in the second period, Brown powering a header into the net from Alfie Doughty’s corner on 57 minutes. From then on, the Hatters looked the better side, as despite being unable to add a second goal, defended stoutly to ensure the points remained in Bedfordshire.

Edwards said: “I think we played well, but you can see Cardiff are playing well at the minute. They’ve got a good rhythm, a confidence and belief there, the run that they’ve been on and some very good players as well. After the first 15 minutes or so where we were a little bit, we didn’t quite arrive quickly enough in some of the pressing, after that we got to grips with it.

“We won it back a lot and I think the game was where we wanted it to be. They might have had the ball a little bit but we’ve got to try and keep it as far away from our goal as possible which we did. We certainly had the majority of the momentum and the game was where we wanted it to take place, so I think we deserved the win, but it was a night where it (the result) was important.”

Having conceded first in their last two home matches against Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion, Edwards knew getting their noses in front, particularly against a side who were looking to waste time from every goal kick and slow things down where possible, was crucial. He continued: “The first goal was really important. We talked about it at half time actually, that tonight could be about fine margins.

"The game’s not completely one-sided. I felt like we were the more dominant team, where the game was, but clearly they had a threat and they were still dangerous, so the game was in the balance. It was going to be about fine margins and coming out on the right side of that. When he (Doughty) gets that delivery bang on we’re a threat as we’ve got people arriving in the right areas, so I’m really pleased for Jacob.

"My only frustration was some of that momentum we really carried forward after the goal, built on the confidence and I just wanted the lads to try and take the game away from them. We had one or two really good moments and there were instances where we could have killed them off but we didn’t. Then we had to make sure we defended properly and we did. The good thing about tonight was that we defended well, there were no big saves for Thomas (Kaminski) to make, there were no big chances that they had, that was obviously really pleasing.”