Plymouth Argyle vs Luton Town FC (27th Sep 2024)

27/09/2024 – PLYMOUTH ARGYLE 3-1 LUTON TOWN

Hatters defeated in Devon

Victor Moses on target but the Hatters go down to defeat at Home Park

The Town failed to make it three wins in a row as they were soundly beaten at Plymouth.

The Hatters, who saw three players substituted through injury in a 15-minute spell either side of half-time, were behind early and never recovered despite substitute Victor Moses’ first goal for the club.

But Argyle, who in their last home game beat leaders Sunderland, got off the flyer when Rami Al Hajj thundered a shot past Thomas Kaminski in the eighth minute after the Town failed to clear a pass into the box.

With their tales up the hosts should have doubled their four minutes later only for Michael Obefemi to shoot wide from 10 yards after being found by Morgan Whittaker’s right-wing cross.

While the Hatters looked dangerous going forward, they could not profit from the mistakes in the Plymouth defence with Elijah Adebayo denied twice with shots that home defender Lewis Gibson blocked.

But while the Town struggled to create clear-cut chances, the home side were threatening whenever they poured forward, and the Hatters had Thomas Kaminski to thank for two fine saves to keep out the Pilgrims. Firstly the Belgian got down to deny goalscorer Al Hajj a second before using his feet to stop a goal-bound effort from home captain Joe Edwards five minutes before the break.

The half ended with Teden Mengi and Tahith Chong withdrawn with knocks and the Town’s woes continued into the second period when Mads Andersen – on for Mengi – then limped off.

Half chances came and went as the Town chased an equaliser but the game seemed beyond Rob Edwards’ men with 20 minutes left when Argyle substitute Ibrahim Cissoko finished brilliantly after taking Darko Gyabi’s pass to make it 2-0.

However, almost immediately, the Hatters reduced the deficit to give them hope. Alfie Doughty’s cross from the left swung into the path of Moses and he whipped a ferocious low shot past Grimshaw at the near post.

With 19 minutes left on the clock, the Town went for the jugular with Edwards introducing Joe Taylor and Cauley Woodrow off the bench.

A series of corners put the home side under pressure but after Taylor swept a shot wide and Woodrow fired over the game was almost up.

Argyle then came close to sealing victory when man-of-the-match Adam Randell crashed a superb effort off the crossbar with Kaminski beaten.

Then, in the third of seven added minutes, it was over. Cissoko found space in the Town penalty area and then had time to steer a low shot past Kaminski and that was that.

Defeat will hurt but this is the Championship and attention will now turn to get back to winning ways against Oxford United at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday night. We’ll see you then.

Town: Kaminski; Walters, Doughty, McGuinness, Mengi (sub Andersen 42 (sub Moses 58)), Burke; Krauß, Clark, Chong (sub Brown 46), Nelson (sub Woodrow 75); Adebayo (sub Taylor 75).

Subs not used: Shea, Nakamba, Mpanzu, Walsh.

Attendance: 16,616 with just under 1,200 singing for the Town.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUfLUvynGRU – Match highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6jza_cO0JM – Rob Edwards interview

Misfiring Luton's return to form is ended by Plymouth Argyle

Championship: Plymouth Argyle 3 Luton Town 1

Luton Town's apparent return to form came to a crashing end as they were beaten 3-1 by a spirited Plymouth Argyle this evening.

The Hatters had gone into the contest looking to make it three successive victories having beaten both Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday, but in front of a passionate and fervent home crowd, they were deservedly beaten by an exuberant Pilgrims side who appear to have found their feet under Wayne Rooney now.

Town made two changes for the contest, German midfielder Tom Krauß rewarded for an impressive cameo against the Owls by earning his full Luton debut, Zack Nelson also in, Marvelous Nakamba and Liam Walsh dropping to the bench where they were joined for the first time since February by Jacob Brown.

Two-goal hero Carlton Morris missed out with injury, as Luton went in search of a third straight successive victory, after what looked a bright start by the Hatters they then went behind to the hosts' first attack on nine minutes. A ball into the area, the first time Argyle had ventured there, saw Reece Burke deflect it away from Jordan Clark, and Rami Al Hajj was teed up perfectly by Ryan Hardie to send his first time effort beyond Thomas Kaminski and into the top corner.

They should have doubled their lead moments later too, Luton sliced open up the left hand side and Morgan Whittaker pulled the ball back perfectly for the onrushing Michael Obafemi, but he slammed wide from 10 yards out. Clearly in the ascendancy, Argyle kept up the pressure, Hardie firing well wide, before a lovely move the hosts move Town around the pitch and then move inside with real class, Whittaker eventually shanking off target.

Kaminski kept the deficit to just one midway through the half, as with a shot falling at the feet of Hajj once more, his first time effort looked destined for the bottom corner, only for the Belgian to get down excellently and make a crucial stop. Town should really have at least worked home stopper Dan Grimshaw on 28 minutes, a mistake at the back seeing Elijah Adebayo with an avenue to goal, but he didn't appear to have the belief or pace to get away, eventually trying to find team-mate Zack Nelson rather then have a himself whose chipped cross disappointingly went behind for a goal kick.

Adebayo then did well to flick a header on for Chong, but the midfielder's touch was poor and ran straight through to Grimshaw, while Adebayo had another opportunity when played in by a long ball forward, only to try and cut back on to his left once more, unable to get a shot away, Nelson doing so, his attempt charged down.

With Town having their best spell of pressure, they couldn't make the most of it, Adebayo glancing over under pressure from Grimshaw, as McGuinness then awkwardly volleyed wide when picked out by another excellent Doughty corner. The difference between the sides was showcased on 40 minutes, as having been under the cosh for a while, Argyle attacked, and with their one entry into the box, managed to get a shot on target, Harde unable to take a brilliant opportunity, firing against the legs of Kaminski who once again did brilliantly, the rebound hitting Doughty and cannoning over the bar.

An injury to Mengi saw the defender replaced, Mads Andersen on for his first league action since Boxing Day, before you got the feeling it wasn't Adebayo's night, the forward released in the area once more, only to see Lewis Gibson fly out of nowhere and make a block. Town then worryingly saw Chong go down in an off the ball incident which saw referee John Busby call for half time to allow him to get treatment, as he didn't reappear for the second period, Jacob Brown on for his first outing since early February.

Luton's injury issues then appeared to hit again, Andersen taking a seat on the pitch and requiring treatment, but thankfully he was able to carry on. Town started to get their press right as they hunted a leveller, Hajj forced to give a corner away as they looked to play out from the back, Doughty forcing Grimshaw to palm away, before Burke won the ball back and sent over a marvellous cross that saw Adebayo rise at the back post but get too much on his header as his frustrating night showed no sign of ending.

Andersen did eventually make way on 58 minutes, Victor Moses coming on, instantly winning a corner that saw Doughty pick out Mark McGuinness who nodded disappointingly over. Adebayo once more had a sniff midway through the second period, as after some trickery, saw his shot deflect into the side-netting,

Argyle thought they had given themselves some real breathing space on 69 minutes though as after a move from Town broke down, Clark dispossessed in the area, the hosts set off on a magnificent counter attack of their own which ended up in sub Ibrahim Cissoko curving a fine left-footed attempt into the corner of the net to double the lead.

However, even before the celebrations had died down, Luton were back in it, a deep cross chested down at the far post by Moses, the winger showing all his quality to fire off a low drive that flew past Grimshaw to immediately halve the deficit. Luton then threw on Joe Taylor and Cauley Woodrow for Adenayo and Nelson to try and give themselves every chance of rescuing a point, the pair quickly getting involved as Taylor neatly sidestepped his man and shot wide, Woodrow getting underneath an effort from just inside the box.

Town's efforts started to wane somewhat and they were almost killed off when Randell thundered against the bar, before Adam Forshaw put his attempt straight at Kaminski from an inviting position. However, they did finally seal the points through that man Cissoko again when he made good ground once more, and after his first blast rebounded back to him, steadied himself to wrongfoot Kaminski and make the points safe. Luton almost pulled another back straight away, Woodrow unable to get the ball under control, as a misfiring Town can have no complaints on the night.

Pilgrims: Dan Grimshaw, Bali Mumba (Brendan Galloway 46), Kornel Szucs, Joe Edwards (C), Ryan Hardie, Morgan Whittaker, Michael Obafemi (Ibrahim Cissoko 58), Lewis Gibson, Darko Gyabi, Adam Randell, Rami Al Hajj (Adam Forshaw 58).

Subs not used: Marko Marosi, Jordan Houghton, Callum Wright, Mustaphu Bundu, Muhamed Tijani, Victor Palsson.

Hatters: Thomas Kaminski, Reuell Walters, Reece Burke, Mark McGuinness, Teden Mengi (Mads Andersen 41, Victor Moses 58), Alfie Doughty, Tom Krauß, Zack Nelson, Jordan Clark (C), Tahith Chong (Jacob Brown 46), Elijah Adebayo. Subs not used: James Shea, Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, Liam Walsh, Marvelous Nakamba.

Referee: John Busby.

Booked: Adebayo 15, Randell 35, Walters 83, Burke 87, Clark 87.

Edwards left frustrated by Luton's efforts in both boxes during Pilgrims loss

Town boss reacts to Friday night loss

Hatters boss Rob Edwards bemoaned his side’s lack of quality in both boxes as their two-game winning run was ended with a bump at Plymouth Argyle this evening, Wayne Rooney’s side triumphing 3-1.

After what had been a bright opening few minutes, the visitors fell behind to the Pilgrims’ first attack, a low ball into the area not cleared, Ryan Hardie teeing up Rami Al Hajj to find the top corner. After the break, Plymouth moved 2-0 ahead through Ibrahim Cissoko’s fine finish on 69 minutes after a Luton move broke down, before Town were immediately back in it thanks to Victor Moses’s first goal for the club.

However, stoppage time saw Cissoko score again, making the most of another fine breakaway by the hosts, as speaking afterwards, Edwards said: “The supporters have travelled a long, long way tonight, and it's a really disappointing result for us. My take on the game right now before watching it back is that in both boxes we weren't good enough. I think we got in their final third twice as often as they did, got into their penalty area more than they did, but they had more shots, made Thomas (Kaminski) work more than we made their goalkeeper work.

"So both ends of the pitch, we weren’t clinical one end and then didn’t defend well enough the other, that's not a good recipe at all. It can (be worked on) and it will be and it is, so it's why it's so frustrating as the lads do, we as a group, work really, really hard in the week. The game was exactly what we thought, we got in behind them a heck of a lot and that's what we'd worked on a lot, and then didn't have that final bit, so that can be worked on.

"The other side of the game, defensively we can work on as well, I thought we started the game really well, their first attack they’ve scored, really good finish, but disappointing how we could have been better for the first goal. There were one of two moments, they had some chances as we got a little bit deep and sat back a bit and allowed them one or two chances, but other than that I thought we were the better team, looked more threatening, but couldn’t get that goal in the first half.

"The game almost is summed up by the last goal, we've got a great opportunity to do something, work the goalkeeper, and then we end up conceding a counter attack and the ball is in the back of our net where we haven’t defended that well enough. We could have been better and more ruthless at the top end of the pitch, so a really disappointing result for us.”