Luton Town FC vs Stoke City (10th Dec 2024)

10/12/2024 LUTON TOWN 2-1 STOKE CITY

Late Adebayo winner sees off Stoke

Morris and Adebayo on target as Town come from behind to win at Kenilworth Road

A last-minute goal from Elijah Adebayo earned the Town a dramatic but deserved victory over Stoke to maintain their good form at Kenilworth Road.

Trailing to Tom Cannon’s early goal the Hatters fought back to claim their fifth win in nine home games with Carlton Morris’ header levelling midway through the first half.

Both sides had chances in the second half but the Town finished the stronger and, as time ticked into the 90th minute, Adebayo reacted first to Tom Krauß’s blocked shot to guide home his fifth goal in his last nine starts to spark scenes of celebration and lift the Hatters further up the Championship table.

Cannon’s opener came in the sixth minute, finishing well after speeding clear of the Town defence and beating an exposed Thomas Kaminski.

But as the game settled, so did the Hatters as they grew into the game. Their first big chance arrived in the 13th minute when former Stoke man Jacob Brown – in from the start – slipped Adebayo in behind the Potters defence but his low shot was charged down visiting keeper Viktor Johansson.

However, the Town continued to press and their efforts were rewarded in the 24th minute when Jordan Clark’s superb right-wing corner was met by the head of Morris, and his glancing header flew beyond Johannson for his fifth goal of the season.

Level the Hatters then came mighty close to taking the lead on the half-hour in a goalmouth scramble that somehow saw Stoke survive. Clark’s corner caused the chaos with a Morris header saved and an Adebayo shot cleared off the line by Ben Wilmot.

The Town started the second half how they ended the first, on the front foot, with Clark’s corners continuing to cause panic in the Stoke penalty area.

The Potters rode that storm and enjoyed a decent spell. Kaminski came to the Town’s rescue on 56 minutes with a flying save to turn away Lewis Koumas’ stinging effort and the same visiting player then spurned a good chance when well-placed moments later.

But, as the game entered the final 15 minutes, the Town found a second wind. Clark shot wide from distance before Morris side-footed a great chance wide of the post from close range after being found by Krauß’s cut-back.

Then, with eight minutes left, another clearance off the line denied the Hatters when Adebayo’s shot following a right-wing corner was hacked to safety by Cannon.

With time ticking the Hatters continued to push for a winner and in the final minute it came. A left-wing free-kick was half-cleared by Stoke to the feet of Krauß on the edge of the box. His shot was deflected into the path of Adebayo and he reacted quickest to sweep a first-time finish into the top corner.

After the celebrations there was no time for a Stoke reply and the Town held on to win to make it one defeat in nine home games at the Kenny.

As Rob Edwards said afterwards it’s the away form that needs to change – and it’s to Blackburn where we head next on Saturday.

We’ll see you there.

UTT.

Town: Kaminski, Moses, Chong, McGuinness, Hashioka, Holmes, Krauß, Clark, Brown, Adebayo, Morris.

Subs not used: Shea, Krul, Andersen, Woodrow, Nakamba, Mpanzu, Taylor, Nelson, Johnson.

Attendance: 10,537, including 1,157 in the away end.

Adebayo bags 90th minute winner as Luton earn confidence-boosting win over Stoke

Championship: Luton Town 2 Stoke City 1

A late, late goal by Elijah Adebayo gave Luton an absolutely crucial 2-1 success over Stoke City at Kenilworth Road this evening.

With time ticking down, it appeared the spoils were going to be shared for the second home game in a few days until Adebayo who had already seen two shots cleared off the line, was in the perfect place to divert Tom Krauß' attempt into the net and seal all three points for the hosts. Town chief Rob Edwards made two changes from the 1-1 draw with Swansea City at the weekend, Tahith Chong and former Potters attacker Jacob Brown coming in for the injured Amari'i Bell and Marvelous Nakamba, who dropped to the bench.

Despite making a bright start, Luton then fall behind to City's first attack. Million Manhoef played a terrific pass through the lines which saw Daiki Hashioka fail in his efforts to cut it out and Tom Cannon, a player linked heavily with Luton in the summer, latched on to it in a flash, beating Thomas Kamsini from close range to give the hosts a taste of just what they could have had.

Town didn't go under though, anything but, responding well to the setback, Chong, deployed as a right wingback, crossing for Morris to flick a header into the gloves of Viktor Johansson and then Brown bursting through the middle to find Adebayo, who had the Potters stopper for company immediately, bravely smothering away.

City almost had a fortunate second when Manhoef's inswinging corner rebounded against the outside of the post with Kaminski scrambling across, but Luton never once let their heads drop, producing some of their best football for a while on home soil and clearly taking on board manager Edwards’ request for them to show more risks than they have done recently.

They were rewarded on 24 minutes, as Clark, who was catching the eye in midfield, swung over a corner and there was Morris to end his seven game drought with a fine glancing header. Cannon showed he might not be done for the night, although this time sending a tame effort that Kaminski gobbled up easily.

With half an hour gone, Luton were somehow not ahead as another Clark corner caused mayhem, Hahioka's header met by Morris as Johnasson made a sprawling save, before a massive spell of pinball saw Adebayo denied on the line by Ben Wilmot. Stoke weren't without their threats, Lewis Koumas's driven cross was volleyed high and wide by Eric Bocat on 34 minutes, as having seen their lead gone, it was the visitors who began to have the better of things, the influential Bae Junho fashioning a shooting opportunity that he slammed over.

Liverpool loanee Koumas then somehow escaped a booking from referee Tom Nield for hauling back Moses just outside the box, Clark trying to catch out Johansson only to get too much on his effort. Luton made another positive start to the second period, Clark seeing plenty of the ball as he swung in some dangerous corners and another cross after being picked out by Kaminski that was just cleared before Hashioka could pounce.

Town had a let off on 55 minutes when Krauß gave the ball away and it was transferred to the right where Koumas let fly with a fierce drive that required an athletic tip over by Kaminski. The on-loan Reds winger then had another go just before the hour mark when the ball dropped to him, not testing Kaminski this time, as City were starting to get a real grip on proceedings, Manhoef wayward after a penetrating burst.

His radar was also off on 70 minutes when Luton couldn't clear their lines, as a Stoke winner was starting to look on the cards, Tom Holmes with a great saving challenge, while Koumas saw his claims for a penalty turned down by the increasingly erratic Nield, who made some truly woeful decisions throughout the evening.

Luton finally had their first opening in a while with 15 to go, Chong starting a move from deep and Clark shanking well wide on his left, before Town had a magnificent opening to move ahead when Victor Moses picked out Krauß’s run. The German midfielder cut the ball back for an unmarked Morris who simply had to score from eight yards out, only to somehow sidefoot wide, hanging his head in frustration afterwards.

Into the final 10 minutes and Luton were denied by yet another goal-line clearance, as Clark's corner was missed by Johansson and stabbed goalwards by Adebayo, but Cannon was well positioned to make the vital clearance. There was to be no denying Adebayo in the 90th minute though as Chong was felled for a free kick that Clark swung into the box, Johansson palming out to Krauß.

He returned the ball with a volley that fell invitingly to Adebayo who was able to divert into the net, as finally there was no Potters defender positioned on the line to come to the visitors' rescue, as Luton confidently saw out the three minutes of stoppage time to record a hugely confidence-boosting win ahead of an upcoming run of three games out of four on the road.

Hatters: Thomas Kaminski, Daiki Hashioka, Tom Holmes, Mark McGuinness, Victor Moses, Jacob Brown, Tom Krauß, Jordan Clark, Tahith Chong, Carlton Morris, Elijah Adebayo.

Subs not used: Tim Krul, James Shea, Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, Cauley Woodrow, Joe Taylor, Zack Nelson, Joe Johnson, Mads Andersen, Marvelous Nakamba.

Potters: Viktor Johansson, Michael Rose ©, Wouter Burger (Emre Tezgel 90), Tom Cannon, Bae Junho (Andrew Moran 85), Lewis Koumas (Lynden Gooch 89), Tatsuki Seko, Ben Wilmot, Eric Bocat, Ashley Phillips, Million Manhoef.

Subs not used: Jack Bonham,Enda Stevens, Andre Vignal, Junior Tchamadeu, Ben Gibson, Sol Sidibe.

Referee: Tom Nield.

Booked: Chong 54, Burger 85, Koumas 89.

Attendance: 10,537 (1,157 Potters).

Proud Edwards relieved to see Luton swiftly overcome woeful Swans display to beat Potters

Town bounce back from disappointing 1-1 draw by clinching midweek win

Luton boss Rob Edwards was incredibly proud of the way in which his side were able to turn around their bitterly disappointing showing at home to Swansea City on Saturday in a matter of days when producing a morale-boosting 2-1 victory against Stoke City last night.

At the weekend, the Hatters’ efforts in earning a 1-1 draw at Kenilworth Road soil had been met with a huge amount of criticism and apathy from home supporters following what was a one-paced and laborious showing, dominated in all aspects by their opponents, particularly in possession, the Swans having around 65 percent, also managing 20 shots, 10 on target, Town escaping with a point thanks to the heroics of Thomas Kaminski.

In fact a deeper look at the stats made for some alarming reading, Luton only having eight shots themselves, with two on target, sending in just 19 crosses, Tom Krauß having 62 touches, 50 less than he visitors’ top performer in Matt Grimes, only Victor Moses and Jordan Clark managing over 50. With only a few days to alter things for Stoke last night and the same squad of players available to him, minus the injured Amari’i Bell, Edwards made two changes, bringing in Tahith Chong and Jacob Brown.

What followed was by no means a perfect outing, but still a far, far better showing for the 10,500 in attendance, as even after falling behind early on to Tom Cannon’s strike, the Hatters looked much more creative and had a real intent about them. That was born out in their 18 shots, eight on target, with Clark alone sending in 20 of the hosts’ 39 crosses, the midfielder managing one more than his entire team had done at the weekend.

They also had seven players with more than 50 touches this time, Victor Moses producing a game high total of 83, as on just how Luton were able to change things so drastically and speedily, Edwards said: “It’s been a big challenge, a lot of thought goes into it, a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of work from everybody, not just me, the whole group, everyone.

"Then it’s trying to get the right messages across to the players without overloading them with information because at the moment, that’s probably not what they need. It’s trying to get the right bits there, to them, that they can handle and trying to frame it in the right way for them to feel a bit freer, for them to take more risks. So the messaging has been the biggest challenge, and to not pick loads of faults in what was a difficult performance on the weekend.

"There were still good things there that we tried to show, there were things here that we didn’t do well that we had to put on them and say we need more of that, but trying to find a balance in the message was a big challenge. I’m really proud of how we’ve been able to turn that around in a few days. There was still a few there tonight (mistakes), we haven’t eradicated that, I don’t think we are for a while. Again, it’s hard with a number of defenders we’ve got out and players missing, but there were still a few errors that didn’t get punished, but there were better basics.”

One thing Edwards had called for in his pre-match press conference was for his side to take more risks in a bid to get the feelgood factor back at Kenilworth Road. That was on display for the majority of the contest, as even if passes sometimes went astray, they were usually attacking ones, as the boss continued: “They did, we had more of a purpose to us. There was an, even if it didn’t come off, you could see that they were trying, trying to take someone on, or trying to make that overlap, trying to affect them with forward runs.

"We got more numbers in the box, all right the quality of the crossing at times wasn’t quite there, but they were trying to do those right things and we created some really good chances. I think we should have probably scored more than two, but it was enough for us in the end. They were brave and after going 1-0 down as well, didn't go under, showed character, which is some of the stuff that we’ve been speaking about that we’ve struggled with at times this year, so that was really pleasing.”

Having not had more possession than an opposition side since facing West Bromwich Albion on November 1, Luton were on level pegging this time with the Potters. Although not too fussed about such a stat, Edwards was more pleased with what they did with it this time, adding: “We were better on the ball. We were up against a different team tonight, Swansea were always going to have more of the ball than us at the weekend, we knew that, that wasn’t a problem.

"We’d love to have more of the ball, but we had 60 percent of the ball against Burnley in the first game of the season and lost 4-1, so we’ve got to try and get it right and that’s obviously my job and our job to do that. It’s not the be-all and end-all, but we do need to be better with the ball. The other day we were too loose, we turned it over too much, but again, different team, different night. We asked them to play a slightly different way tonight and they took that on board, so that was good.”

Luton chief reveals why he didn't make any substitutions during Potters victory

Edwards explains his decision not to alter his side against Stoke

Luton boss Rob Edwards has explained his rare decision to not make any substitutions during last night’s 2-1 victory over Stoke City at Kenilworth Road.

It was the first time that the former Welsh international hasn’t gone to his bench for replacements during a game since taking over at the club back in November 2022, and also the first time that any Town manager hasn’t done so since John Still was in charge of a 3-1 League Two victory at Cambridge United back in September 2015, Luke Guttridge, Luke Wilkinson and Danny Green all on target that day.

It worked as Tahith Chong was fouled for a free kick that Jordan Clark sent into the box and with Elijah Adebayo still on the field, the striker was perfectly positioned inside the area to cleverly divert Tom Krauß’s mishit shot into the net as the clock ticked into the 90th minute, securing a huge win for Edwards and his struggling Hatters side.

Asked why he hadn’t brought anyone on, especially with it being the second game of a three match week, the Town chief said: “From probably 20 minutes onwards, I’m thinking about it a lot, how to impact it, how to change it. It was really difficult tonight, I thought they were all in the game, thought they were still full of running. It was difficult to make a change, an impact. We want to try and win the game, want to try and be positive, so I was thinking how do I get Joe (Taylor) here or Cauley (Woodrow) there?

"But I just felt those three at the top end were all good and a nuisance and retained a lot of threat as well. Also thinking about set-pieces, defending as well as attacking. They’re big for us on the defending as well, Eli and Carlton (Morris) especially, Browny (Jacob Brown) as well, so there’s all that going through our heads. It’s nice in the end that decision to not change worked as well.”

The only time the boss did consider it was when Adebayo pounced late on, as he thought about bringing on an extra defender to shore the game up for the three minutes of stoppage time, but ultimately opted against it, adding: “I started to go straight into action, get Mads back and think do we need to make a defensive change and see this out? But the coaches said we’re good with where we’re at. We’ve got a good balance with the group we’ve got on the pitch at the moment, so it was good.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-C5pB66Oqo – match highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dsB4y6FY0g – Rob Edwards interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYN5BNUU5Zs – Game Day unmasked