Sheffield United vs Luton Town FC (5th Oct 2024)

05/10/2024 SHEFFIELD UNITED 2-0 LUTON TOWN

Town slip to defeat at Bramall Lane

Blades too sharp for Town on afternoon to forget

The Town fell to another defeat on the road as a goal in each half from Jesurun Rak-Sakyi gave Sheffield United all three points.

It was uphill early on for the Hatters at Bramall Lane when Rak-Sakyi gave the hosts the lead in the 12th minute. Anel Ahmedhodzic hooked a ball into the Town box and after getting the better of Reuell Walters and Mark McGuinness, the winger blasted beyond Thomas Kaminski.

Clear-cut chances were at a real premium after the Blades’ opener and it wasn’t until the 34th minute that the hosts threatened again when Rak-Sakyi shot wide.

Two minutes later the Hatters had Kaminski to thank for keeping it 1-0 when his outstretched leg turned away a goal-bound shot from Kieffer Moore.

As half-time approached the Blades continued to push for a second. Kaminski beat away a piledriver from Vini Souza on 37 minutes before the goalkeeper then denied Rak-Sakyi once more after the winger had tiptoed into the box.

Behind at the break, the hosts started quickly at the beginning of the second half. Kaminski stopped Callum O’Hare’s volley and Rak-Sakyi was then inches away from converting a dangerous low right-wing cross from Rhian Brewster.

Back came the Town and, on 49 minutes, they forced their first real chance of the afternoon when Jordan Clark’s shot was saved by Michael Cooper.

However, within three minutes of that opportunity, the hosts doubled their advantage. Rak-Sakyi received the ball in the box, drove down the right and buried a low shot through the legs of Kaminski.

The Town then needed their goalkeeper to prevent it becoming 3-0 on 56 minutes when Kaminski flung himself to his right to keep out Brewster’s drive as the hosts looked to kill the game off.

Rob Edwards introduced Jacob Brown, Cauley Woodrow, Joe Taylor and Shandon Baptiste from the bench and, with 18 minutes left, the Town fashioned a chance but Clark was denied once more by Cooper.

The game was almost up for the Hatters on 77 minutes when Alfie Doughty and Clark failed to clear their lines on the edge of the box, enabling Vini Souza to charge into the box and fire a shot goalwards that came back off the post with Kaminski beaten.

Doughty came close to pulling back a consolation in injury time but Cooper was equal to it and that proved to be the final chance as the Town were left to reflect on a third defeat in four on the road in the Championship.

Town: Kaminski; Walters (sub Taylor 68), Doughty, Mengi, McGuinness, Burke; Nakamba (sub Woodrow 60), Clark (sub Nelson 88), Krauß (sub Baptiste 68), Moses; Adebayo (sub Brown 60).

Subs not used: Shea, Mpanzu, Holmes, Johnson.

Attendance: 27,925, including 1,760 backing the Hatters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjJvdfYxN4Y – Match highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y95vVsJ7CKM – Rob Edwards interview

Confused Luton fail to lay a glove on Blades during timid defeat

Championship: Sheffield United 2 Luton Town 0

The pressure on Luton manager Rob Edwards increased even further after Town fell to comprehensive 2-0 defeat at Sheffield United this afternoon.

Having gone into the game on the back of a disappointing 2-2 draw with Oxford in midweek, plus a 3-1 loss at Plymouth last Friday night, the visitors gave a performance lacking in desire, heart and character, as they barely laid a glove on their opponents throughout the 90 minutes. It showed in the possession stats too, at one point United having over 85 percent of the ball, with Chris Wilder's side, who finished 10 points below Luton in the Premier League last term, already clearly having a far better chance of returning there, despite the season only just reaching October.

Town made one change to the side from midweek, Reuell Walters replacing Jacob Brown which meant recent signing Victor Moses pushed further forward in support of Elijah Adebayo. The Hatters initially lined up with a four man defence, Walters over at left back and Reece Burke on the right, but whatever Edwards was trying clearly didn't work though as Luton's players looked completely confused with what they had been asked to do.

It meant Walters found himself up against the game's best player in Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, on his weaker foot, while where Burke was playing still remains a mystery, the centre half turning up in almost every single position as the game progressed, Alfie Doughty moved to the right and seemingly lost as to what was being asked of him.

Looking to keep their opponents out in the early stages and build into the game, those plans went out of the window on just 12 minutes when Luton didn't even contest some high balls around their area, Mark McGuinness trying to leave one for Walters. The defender wasn't close enough to him though, caught on his heels, allowing Rak-Sakyi, who had been linked with Luton in the summer, to burst through, beat McGuinness's tackle and fire past the advancing Thomas Kaminski, as Town's defence was breached with alarming ease once more.

With the hosts in complete control, Town's only half chance inside the opening 25 minutes saw Tom Krauß's fierce 25 yards bravely blocked by the body of Harry Souttar, who showed Luton's defence exactly how it should be done throughout the contest. United centre half Anel Ahmedhodzic then saw yellow on 28 minutes after being dispossessed by Elijah Adebayo, bringing down the forward as he looked to get away, while from the resulting free kick, Doughty's delivery saw Teden Mengi's snapshot fly narrowly wide.

The centre half was almost responsible for United doubling their lead on 35 minutes though, his error pounced on by Kieffer Moore, Thomas Kaminski saving well with his legs, the Belgian also parrying away Vini Souza's blast from distance. Sam McCallum might have done better after a wonderfully threaded throughball from Alfie Gilchrist, putting his effort wide, while Rak-Sakyi had the measure of the visitors' defence, tricking his way into another shooting position, Kaminski saving with ease.

Following a first half in which Town didn't lay a glove on their hosts, it carried on after the break, McGuinness's pass cut out as he was then beaten by the physical Rhian Brewster, Rak-Sakyi unable to reach his low cross. Luton finally had a sniff, but again it came from a mistake, Gilchrist not dealing with a hopeful ball forward, dispossessed by Moses and then Jordan Clark having an ambitious crack from a tight angle, Michael Cooper forced into something resembling meaningful work.

However, Town's afternoon went downhill quickly though, when the impressive Rak-Sakyi was freed in the area on 52 minutes and given all the time in the world by Walters to work an angle on his right foot, firing through the legs of Kaminski. Moments later, the Town keeper did well to get a strong hand to repel Brewster's low drive away, Edwards trying to arrest the slide, with Cauley Woodrow and Brown on for Adebayo and Nakamba.

United finally ended Rak-Sakyi's hold over the visitors, as he went off, but Gustavo Hamer, Coventry City's play-off final goalscorer came on, before Edwards made another double change on 68 minutes, Joe Taylor and Shandon Baptiste introduced. Andre Brooks put a decent chance over at the back post, before Town, who had actually shown signs of life since the changes, began to threaten marginally, Clark forcing Cooper to palm behind.

However, that was quickly extinguished, United wresting control back again, Souza bursting through a challenge on the edge of the box and beating Kaminski, only for his shot to rebound out off the foot of the post. The further mystifying nature of Luton's formation was apparent once more with 10 left, a long ball nodded down by Woodrow for Burke who had found himself in the central striker role, but he couldn't turn and unleash an effort on target.

The defender was then back as the last man, preventing a home attack, as with the visiting supporters getting increasingly restless, Woodrow, who had impressed during his cameo, picked out Brown to head over. Late on, Doughty, who had gone to the left and back over to the right, couldn't beat Cooper at his near post, as the final whistle was greeted with jeers from the travelling contingent of Luton supporters.

Blades: Michael Cooper, Alfie Gilchrist (Jamie Shackleton 75), Sam McCallum (Rhys Norrington-Davies 71), Oliver Arblaster (C), Harry Souttar, Rhian Brewster (Gustavo Hamer 66), Kieffer Moore (Tyrese Campbell 75), Callum O'Hare, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi (Andre Brooks 66), Anel Ahmedhodzic, Vini Souza.

Subs not used: Adam Davies, Harrison Burrows, Jamie Shackleton, Jack Robinson, Tyrese Campbell, Sydie Peck.

Hatters: Thomas Kaminski, Reuell Walters (Joe Taylor 68), Reece Burke , Mark McGuinness, Teden Mengi, Alfie Doughty, Tom Krauß (Shandon Baptiste 68), Marvelous Nakamba (Cauley Woodrow 60), Jordan Clark (C Zack Nelson 88), Victor Moses, Elijah Adebayo (Jacob Brown 60).

Subs not used: James Shea, Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, Joe Johnson, Tom Holmes.

Referee: John Brooks. Booked: Ahmed 28, Walters 30, Abrl. Attendance: 27,925 (Hatters).

Luton boss vows he has to 'fix it' after Town slump to Blades loss

Hatters manager reacts to Sheffield United defeat

Luton boss Rob Edwards knows full well he has to ‘fix’ the problems that are ongoing with the Hatters after a tame 2-0 defeat at Sheffield United on Saturday.

The visitors turned up at Bramall Lane on the back of taking just one point from their last two games, but they never looked like getting back to winning ways against the Blades, as Jesurun Rak-Sakyi scored early in each half to ensure the points remained in Sheffield. Speaking afterwards, Edwards, who is coming under increasing pressure now, said: “It’s on me, I’ve got to fix it.

"We’ll work hard on the training pitch, we’ll try to support the players, do what we always try to do, which is give clarity, work hard on and off the pitch to make sure we fix certain areas that we’re not doing well at the moment. Today, we didn't want to open up as much, so we changed the shape, played a back four, kept things more compact.

"We wanted to press from a bit more of a deeper shape, so we had more bodies behind the ball, but we still wanted to jump out and press at the right moments. In theory it looked good and then we were actually out there, they didn't open us up loads unless it was a few mistakes, or right towards the end when we were beginning to open up more, there was one of two moments then. But yes we've got to work hard, stick together and turn this around.”

Looking to build into the game, Town’s plans went up in smoke when Mark McGuinness and Reuell Walters didn’t deal with a high ball allowing Rak-Sakyi to burst through and beat Thomas Kaminski. The on-loan Crystal Palace winger, who had been linked with Town during the transfer window, netted a second just after the break too, easily getting the better of Walters to fire through the legs of Kaminski.

Edwards continued: “You can lose here, at the moment with the form that they’re in and with the form we’re in at the moment, but there’s ways to do it. We wanted to give us a little bit more solidity but the way we conceded the two goals which ultimately cost us the game were really, really disappointing. The ball pops up on the edge of the box, we don’t challenge, the ball landed, we didn’t challenge, indecisiveness, and before you know it it’s in the back of the net.

"It’s really frustrating as we had good numbers there, enough people to be able to deal with it. It was a different goal the second one, but again we were in a decent shape, had enough numbers to deal with it. Once it got to Rak-Sakyi it’s a dangerous moment and a one v one in the box. The ball went inside us, which was frustrating, but we had the numbers there to be able to deal with it.”

Following the full time whistle, the Town chief was greeted with chants of ‘Edwards sort it out’ by the visiting fans, as on the reception he received, the manager added: “They were amazing and I thank them. I know they’re frustrated but I said this the other day, it’s on me and we’ve got to try and improve. I’m not trying to hide from it, I’ll go and say thankyou and apologise. I know they want a better performance, they’ve not come up here saying you have to win, I don’t think. They’re intelligent people, they don’t want to see those goals conceded, they don’t want to see us lose in that manner.”