Luton Town FC vs Stoke City (6th Nov 2021)

Report | Luton Town 0-1 Stoke City

The Hatters suffered a second defeat in three matches as Stoke City took all three points away from Kenilworth Road.

Jacob Brown's first-half goal proved enough for the Potters, who started the day two places above the Hatters in sixth position in the Championship table, with the win taking them up a place to fifth and leaving Town in 11th.

Manager Nathan Jones made two changes to the side that came from behind to beat Middlesbrough 3-1 in midweek.

One change was enforced, with Henri Lansbury missing out due to suspension, meaning Allan Campbell featured for the first time since being injured against Blackburn Rovers in September. Amari'i Bell returned from the sidelines to replace Dan Potts on the left side of defence, while Reece Burke retained his spot at centre-back along with Sonny Bradley and Kal Naismith.

Town started brightly, Harry Cornick receiving a pass from Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu in the area in the seventh minute, but didn't realise he had time to control, and instead couldn't make a good contact on his attempt to lift it over the onrushing City keeper Josef Bursik.

Stoke's first sight of goal came in the 20th minute when Jacob Brown headed a deep corner back from the far post, Simon Sluga got a hand on it to palm the ball away, but only as far as Leon Ostigard, who was denied a certain goal by a perfectly timed block from Gabe Osho inside the six-yard box.

As the half went on, the Hatters were finding it difficult to get a foothold in the game, without Stoke really troubling the backline. A scrappy period littered with free-kicks was lightened by a Cornick cross from the right that flew right across the face of Bursik's goal on the half-hour, but the visitors soon had the lead.

Romaine Sawyers broke down the right and delivered a perfect cross in between Sluga and the centre-halves for Brown to steer past the Croatian keeper on 34 minutes.

Town tried to respond, with Adebayo taking Mpanzu's deep cross on his chest and volleying goalward from a tight angle, only for Burskik to beat the ball away.

It remained 1-0 at the break, with neither manager making a change at the interval. Referee Jon Moss had seen enough of the visitors' attempts to slow the game down, however, and had Danny Batth's name in his notepad within two minutes of the restart for taking too long over a throw-in.

Ostigard soon joined him for a cynical pull back on Bell as the Town left-back looked to launch a counter-attack after the Hatters defended a Stoke free-kick resolutely.

Luton were in the ascendancy for the opening ten minutes of the half, Bree twice getting in good positions to cross, the first sailing past everyone but the second finding Cornick, who couldn't direct his header on target.

Jones made his first changed just after the hour, bringing on Fred Onyedinma and Admiral Muskwe for Cornick and Burke, with Stoke taking off Steven Fletcher and replacing him with Mario Vrancic at the same time.

The two subs combined for the Hatters' best chance in the 67th minute, Onyedinma dancing his way along the byline and clipping the ball back for Muskwe to head at goal, but it was all at such a pace that the former Leicester youngster couldn't keep it down and the crossbar denied him an equaliser.

Campbell was booked for a seemingly good challenge on Brown in the middle of the pitch, before the Stoke player was let off after catching Naismith late in the corner, right in front of the visiting fans a couple of minutes later.

Sluga was a virtual spectator as the second half progressed, but he had to be alert to tip an inswinging corner from Vrancic with just under a quarter-of-an-hour to go. With ten left, Jones made his final switch, bringing on Jordan Clark for Osho to get another attack-minded player on the pitch.

Chances remained sparse, but Bree fired over when presented with a shooting opportunity in the box, and Onyedinma did well down the left once again to send a low cross that made its way right through to the right-back, but he couldn't control and get a shot off.

Goals: Brown 34

Att: 10,068

Nathan Jones | "We didn't show enough quality"

Manager Nathan Jones was disappointed his side were unable to replicate their usual levels after they were defeated by Stoke City this afternoon.

Jacob Brown’s first-half strike proved the difference between the two sides as the Hatters dropped to 11th in the Sky Bet Championship, despite a handful of promising chances falling their way throughout the 90 minutes.

Reflecting on the match, Jones said: “I think they only had one chance and scored from it. Apart from a corner chance in the first half but they showed one bit of quality. We’ve had a great opportunity with Muskwe’s header that went over the bar and we got in through the final third on numerous occasions without really putting the quality we needed and has been the difference today.

“On the balance of play I thought we were definitely the better side in the second half. It was very difficult because they defended well, they have experience, have kept a clean-sheet and they’ll be happy with that. There was time-wasting which meant there was no flow in the game today, they came and did a good job today and credit to them but we needed to display a bit more quality.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS5QJjbPQrA – Nathan Jones interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pIodTAg76c – match highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SKV5hfBaHw – Allan Campbell interview

Hatters undone by Stoke City once more as they fall to narrow defeat at Kenilworth Road

Championship: Luton Town 0 Stoke City 1

Luton Town's poor record against Stoke City continued at Kenilworth Road this afternoon as they fell to a disappointing 1-0 defeat.

The visitors quite literally stunk out the place at times, as from the moment that Jacob Brown gave them the lead on 34 minutes, they employed some of the most blatant time-wasting tactics not seen in Bedfordshire since the likes of Wycombe were in town.

Referee Jonathan Moss didn't help, failing to clamp down on the tactics earlier, but with two players booked for delaying the play before 70 minutes had elapsed it showed you what the Hatters were up against.

Luton didn't do enough themselves though, too ponderous in possession as they failed to ever show the kind of fluency which has seen them run past Coventry and Peterborough, also sticking three in Middlesbrough's net on Tuesday night, with their final ball poor all afternoon.

Hatters boss Nathan Jones two changes, Amari'i Bell and Allan Campbell coming in, the latter for his first start in almost two months after suffering ligament damage against Blackburn Rovers, with Henri Lansbury suspended and Dan Potts missing out.

Town began at a good pace, Sonny Bradley's header from James Bree's corner drawing a flying save out of Josef Bursik, even though it looked to be going wide of the target.

An unmarked Harry Cornick was then sprung free inside the area from Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu's first time pass, but with more time on his hands than he imagined, could only divert tamely at the visiting keeper.

Despite not featuring much in the final third, Stoke almost went ahead on 20 minutes when a dangerous corner from the left was turned back at the far post, for the lurking Leo Ostigard, who looked destined to score, only for Gabe Osho to make an excellent block to keep it goalless.

Just as had happened on Tuesday night though, the Hatters fell behind when they were opened up on their left and Romaine Sawyers advanced before picking out Jacob Brown inside the six yard box to slide home, almost a carbon copy of Middlesbrough's opener in midweek.

After the break, referee Moss, a regular Premier League official booked Danny Batth for delaying a throw and then Ostigard for pulling back Bell via his neck as he looked to break.

Town did finally start to look like they were capable of getting back into the match, Bree's cross from the right glancing off the top of Harry Cornick's header and away.

That was one of Cornick's last actions, replaced by Admiral Muskwe, with Reece Burke making way for Fred Onyedinma in a bid to try and improve the hosts' attacking options.

Still Luton struggled to make a breakthrough though, with Stoke looking pretty impregnable, making their three goal capitulation in just five minutes against Cardiff last weekend al the more surprising.

Town should have levelled on 68 minutes though, when both subs combined, as Onyedinma won the ball back on the left and his cross was met by Muskwe just a few yards from goal, only for the former Leicester man to see his header cannon against the bar and away.

Visiting stopper Bursik then picked up a mysterious injury to try and halt any momentum Town were building, although he too was booked by Moss for his failure to restart play quickly enough.

Stoke didn't look too interested in trying to double their lead, more just maintain their advantage by any means necessary, although Simon Sluga had to be alert to tip over Mario Vrancic's wickedly inswinging corner.

Late on, Bree shot disappointingly, summing up Town's efforts at goal, before he couldn't get a decent touch on a low cross that bounced through the area, ahead of six minutes of stoppage time.

Muskwe again might have restored parity at the death, but he couldn't get his body position correctly to turn home, as even though Sluga was sent up for two late corners, Luton couldn't level, as their winless run against Stoke extended to 11 meetings, stretching back to December 2000.

Hatters: Simon Sluga, James Bree, Reece Burke (Admiral Muskwe 63), Sonny Bradley, Kal Naismith, Amari'i Bell, Gabe Osho (Jordan Clark 81), Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu, Allan Campbell, Harry Cornick (Fred Onyedinma 63), Elijah Adebayo.

Subs not used: James Shea, Danny Hylton, Glen Rea, Cameron Jerome.

Potters: Josef Bursik, Tommy Smith (Ben Wilmot 76), Joe Allen ©, Danny Batth, Steven Fletcher (Mario Vrancic 64) , Josh Tymon, Jordan Thompson, Jacob Brown (Sam Surridge 84), Leo Ostigard, Romaine Sawyers, Harry Souttar.

Subs not used: Adam Davies, James Chester, Tyrese Campbell, Tom Ince.

Bookings: Batth 48, Ostigard 51, Smith 65, Campbell 71, Brown 80.

Referee: Jonathan Moss.

Attendance: 10,068.

Jones laments a lack of quality on display from the Hatters during yet another Potters defeat

Reaction from Luton chief to Kenilworth Road loss

Town boss Nathan Jones felt his side lacked the quality needed to break down a resolute Stoke City in their 1-0 defeat at Kenilworth Road, as their long wait for a victory against the Potters continued.

The Hatters have now not beaten their opponents in 11 matches, a run stretching back to December 2000, and it didn’t ever look like they would end that record in a game that was expertly managed by the visitors from near enough the first whistle.

Trailing to Jacob Brown’s 34th minute goal, Luton only managed two shots on target throughout, although should have left with a point when Admiral Muskwe headed against the bar from close range in the second period.

Jones said: “It was a bit of a war of attrition first half, not much happening and then they showed one bit of quality.

“We went to sleep and it's a poor goal to give away from our point of view.

“Then second half we came out, thought we were much more front-footed second half, we had enough situations to have done more, we just lacked the quality in the final third today to put a cross on the money or we did put a cross on the money and then we hit the bar from it.

“That was the story of it today, there was one bit of quality in the game, they showed it and they won the game.

“You take any win you can in the Championship and if they’ve got the experience enough to do that (time-waste), I can’t comment on them.

"With us, we just needed to demonstrate a little bit more quality to have done that, which if we had done that earlier enough, it might have been a different story but we just lacked a bit of quality today and that was it.

“Stoke have got a good squad, a big squad, an expensive squad, they've got good experience, but we showed once again that we’re more than competing in the upper echelons of this league.

“Middlesbrough, Stoke are promotion chasing sides that will expect to be in the top six.

"So we’ve beaten Middlesbrough here and to be honest should have got something out of the Stoke game.”