Swansea City vs Luton Town FC (20th Aug 2022)

Report | Swansea City 0-2 Luton Town

The Hatters picked up their first win of the season with a perfect away performance at Swansea, with a goal in each half from Allan Campbell and Carlton Morris sealing all three points.

It was the third time in four seasons that manager Nathan Jones has masterminded a victory without conceding at the Liberty Stadium, with Morris netting his first goal since his summer move from Barnsley to seal the maximum haul.

Jones had made four changes from the side that lost 2-0 at Bristol City in midweek, and got his reward with a magnificent display.

Tom Lockyer came into defence to make his first league start of the season, while Jordan Clark and Luke Freeman started in midfield having come off the bench at Ashton Gate, and Admiral Muskwe partnered Elijah Adebayo in attack - making his first league start since February.

Dan Potts took captain responsibility in the absence of Sonny Bradley, who was missing due to a personal issue, as the Hatters went in search of their first victory of the season.

Lockyer was soon in the thick of the action, producing a perfectly timed block in the penalty area to repel Joel Piroe's shot, but after an initial spell of Swansea possession, the Hatters forward line and midfield were enjoying some reward for their high press.

First Campbell won the ball in midfield and played Adebayo into the box, but centre-half Harry Darling did just enough to hold the striker up and he chopped back inside him.

Next time the former Walsall man got the ball, just before the quarter-of-an-hour mark, he did well to stay on his feet under challenge from Ben Cabango by the right byline, and his attempted cut-back was turned behind for a corner.

From Freeman's set-piece came the breakthrough, home keeper Andy Fisher punching the inswinging delivery out as far as the edge of the box, where Campbell slammed it back past him with his left foot.

Potts, who had already had joy winning two headers at set pieces, climbed highest to send another Freeman cross, this time from the left, towards the bottom corner of the hosts' net, only for a flying Fisher to save low to his right.

Another chance came on 27 minutes when Muskwe robbed Nathan Wood 40 yards from goal and drove forward, arrowing a left-footed angled shot in that Fisher did well to hold.

Swansea looked for a way back in, but for all their possession Ethan Horvath wasn't tested before the break, with the American goalkeeper coming to collect a couple of crosses to chants from the travelling fans of 'U...S...A', while Lockyer, Burke and Potts headed everything else clear and Freeman got a crucial block in to deflect a Joe Allen volley behind for a corner.

Town were worthy of their half-time lead, and Swansea manager Russell Martin used the interval to make his first change, bringing Kyle Naughton on to play left-back in a four, with Wood - who had been playing on the right of a back three - making way.

The hosts continued to pass, pass, pass - but apart from a shot that Ryan Manning drilled into the ground and was deflected well wide, then an attempted curler from 25 yards that went the same way, there was no real threat.

Jones chose the hour mark to make a triple change, Adebayo, Muskwe and Freeman replaced by Carlton Morris, Cameron Jerome and Gabe Osho.

With Campbell pressing high again, Morris was almost in straight away, but the striker couldn't quite sort his feet out before Cabango pinched the ball off him 18 yards out.

Potts timed an interception perfectly to deny Michael Obafemi the opportunity to latch onto a 66th-minute through ball from Naughton, then Martin made his second switch, replacing Matty Sorinola with Cameron Congreve.

The sub's first contribution came with a 68th-minute shot from distance that Horvath was right behind, but soon it was a Town game changer, Morris, who was threatening twice at the other end, fashioning space in the box to unleash a left-footer that Fisher gathered at the second attempt.

Morris finally got his reward in the 72nd minute after some tireless tracking from Campbell, who intercepted a ball intended for Grimes in the right-back area, clipped it forward to Jerome, who turned his man before playing a beautiful pass with the outside of his boot to Morris.

The ex-Barnsley forward tricked his way past his man in the edge of the box and flashed a left-footed shot past Fisher into the far corner of the net for his first Hatters goal.

Piroe wasted a glorious chance to put the Swans back into it on 76 minutes, heading third sub Ollie Cooper's deep cross straight at Horvath when unmarked six yards out.

After that there was little threat from the Welsh side, as the Hatters backline - led by the magnificent Potts and Lockyer, who didn't miss a thing all day - saw it through.

GOALS:LT - Campbell 14, Morris 72

ATT: 16,323 (609 Hatters)

Nathan Jones' take on Swansea win!

Nathan Jones said his side were ‘absolutely outstanding’ as they secured a first win of the season against Swansea City.

The Hatters bounced back from midweek disappointment to earn a well-deserved three points in South Wales thanks to goals from Allan Campbell and a first in Luton colours for Carlton Morris.

“I thought we were absolutely outstanding," Jones said after the match. "Out of possession today was as good a performance you will see. If you’re flippant with your defensive responsibilities against Swansea they punish you because they have carved teams open.

“Today I thought we were aggressive, we were disciplined, I thought we defended superbly well and we looked a threat because we scored two good goals. To be honest with you, we could have scored more.”

Dan Potts led by example as captain for 90 minutes and the manager was very pleased with what he saw from the former West Ham man and his back five.

“I thought we defended our box magnificently, we really did. We pressed at the right times, allowed them to have possession in certain areas, denied them space in and around the box where they are dangerous.

“We were poor against Bristol City, I thought we were good against Burnley and excellent against Birmingham. It was fine margins against Preston, it could have gone either way, but today we were back at it. Really important we got the win, don’t let anyone tell you any different.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AOWiRSVQ6w – Nathan Jones interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSRGYqTDb3g – Match highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbmuwAo53A4 – Carlton Morris interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFEcAR_wOEI – end of match scenes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuC_oWVPmA4 – extended highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zNak9r5yRo – reverse angle

Morris up and running as Luton beat Swansea to earn first victory of the season

Championship: Swansea City 0 Luton Town 2

Summer signing Carlton Morris opened his account as Luton got their season up and running with an excellent 2-0 win at Swansea City this afternoon.

After going four games without a victory, five if you include the Carabao Cup exit to Newport County, and seven when you throw the play-off semi-finals in, boss Nathan Jones, although refusing to panic going into the contest, knew the pressure was starting to build as they searched for a first victory.

They managed it with relative ease as well, delivering a performance that was chalk and cheese from the display at Bristol City on Tuesday night, defending as if their lives depended on it, clinically taking the chances on offer as well.

The Luton chief had reacted by making four changes from the 2-0 reverse at Ashton Gate, attacker Admiral Muskwe starting his first Championship clash since the 2-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion on February 19 in place of Morris.

In also came Tom Lockyer for skipper Sonny Bradley, Dan Potts' taking the captain's armband, with Jordan Clark and Luke Freeman replacing Cauley Woodrow and Gabe Osho.

It looked like the visitors might find themselves a goal down early on again, but the returning Lockyer made an excellent block to prevent Joel Piroe's close range attempt from finding the net.

After one Freeman corner caused real concern for the hosts' defence, they took the lead from their second set-piece on 14 minutes, home keeper Andy Fisher's punch nowhere near strong enough.

The ball dropped to Allan Campbell, who did well to keep his effort down, Fisher not covering himself in glory, allowing the effort underneath his dive for only Luton's second goal of the campaign.

With the Swans struggling to find their way through Town's press, guilty of some bizarre over-playing from their own goal kicks, Luton hunted a second strike.

They almost got it too, Freeman, who was look more and more influential, sending over a cross that Potts did superbly to rise, meet and direct towards the bottom corner, Fisher turning it behind at full stretch.

With 20 minutes gone, another set-piece caused problems, Elijah Adebayo eventually spinning his man and lashing over the top.

Muskwe did well to win the ball midway inside the Swans' half, setting off on a sprint into the box, sending in a left footer that Fisher was able to gather, as Luton were at least working an opposition keeper far more than they had done at any stage this term.

In the closing moments of the first half, former Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen saw his snapshot deflected wide, Ethan Horvath coming off his line well to claim two crosses, alleviating any pressure on his defence.

After the break, the hosts dominated possession for a good 10 minutes, Luton unable to get out of their half, although as before the interval, Horvath was having a simple time of it, comfortably collecting Matty Sorinola's misplaced cross.

City continued to have the majority of the ball, Ryan Manning scuffing off target and then curling tamely wide as visiting boss Jones responded on the hour mark by introducing Morris, Cameron Jerome and Osho for Adebayo, Muskwe and Freeman.

With Swansea chief Russell Martin following suit and putting youngster Cameron Congreve on for the final 23 minutes, he gave the home fans an immediate boost, curling straight at Horvath from outside the box.

As the game became more stretched, Morris might have doubled Town's lead, his fierce effort grabbed by Fisher at the second attempt.

The Swans stopper had no chance on 72 minutes though, Jerome doing impressively to hold play up and find the summer addition, whose first touch from Jerome’s driven pass excellent.

The former Barnsley frontman twisted Ben Cabango inside and out before unleashing an assured finish, fizzing across Fisher and into the bottom corner, Jerome grabbing an assist as he had done for Harry Cornick in Town's 1-0 win last season, at virtually the same point of the game as well.

The hosts should have pulled one back four minutes later, Ollie Cooper off the bench to pick out the completely unmarked Piroe who from a few yards only had to head either side of Horvath, but diverted his effort straight at the USA international, who managed save at the second attempt.

Town's defence were earning their corn too, Potts in particular with one of, if not, his best performance in his many years in a Luton shirt, reading the game perfectly and winning absolutely everything in the air, while Lockyer made yet another crucial block to prevent a nervy final 10 minutes.

With the hosts barely throwing a tap at their opponents, leaving the kitchen sink firmly in place, bar a late Congreve daisycutter that Horvath held, the Hatters had little problem in securing a welcome and richly deserved first victory of the campaign.

Swans: Andy Fisher, Ryan Manning, Ben Cabango, Harry Darling, Joe Allen (Ollie Cooper 76), Matt Grimes (c), Michael Obafemi, Oliver Ntcham, Joel Piroe, Nathan Wood (Kyle Naughton 46), Matty Sorinola (Cameron Congreve 67).

Subs not used: Steven Benda, Jay Fulton, Liam Cullen, Josh Thomas.

Hatters: Ethan Horvath, James Bree, Reece Burke, Tom Lockyer, Dan Potts (C), Amari'i Bell, Allan Campbell, Luke Freeman (Gabe Osho 60), Jordan Clark, Admiral Muskwe (Cameron Jerome 60), Elijah Adebayo (Carlton Morris 60).

Subs not used: Matt Macey, Luke Berry, Cauley Woodrow, Elliot Thorpe.

Referee: John Busby.

Booked: Obafemi 82.

Attendance: 16,323 (609 Luton)

Town chief felt Luton were back to their old selves with 'perfect' away display at Swans

Hatters manager on 2-0 win in Wales

Luton boss Nathan Jones felt his side had got back to their old ways when producing the ‘perfect away performance; in beating Swansea City 2-0 at the Liberty Stadium this afternoon.

Allan Campbell scored after 14 minutes of the contest, drilling underneath keeper Andrew Fisher following a corner, before Carlton Morris came off the bench to clinically finish off a counter attack in the latter stages.

It means the Hatters ended a run of four league games without a win, and put the disappointing display in Tuesday night’s 2-0 defeat at Bristol City firmly to bed too.

Speaking afterwards, Jones said: “That was my last slide today about back to us, back to being us, and we were.

“I thought we were absolutely outstanding, out of possession it’s as good a performance as you can see.

“You come here and you be flippant with your responsibilities today and they punish you.

“They’ve carved teams open, against Millwall (2-2 draw on Tuesday night) and with the greatest of respect to Millwall, they should have been a good few up, today they didn't do that to us.

“I thought we were aggressive, thought we were disciplined, we defended superbly well and I thought we looked a threat, because we scored two good goals.

“To be honest with you, we could have scored more as Carlton had a few good opportunities, when we brought them (Morris and Cameron Jerome) on, those two were excellent.

“In the first half and from set-plays and from situations, we could have been better.

"If Elijah takes stuff a little bit earlier and really demands from himself in terms of pace and power and what we want from him, then we had better situations, and I'm really pleased, the perfect away performance.”

Campbell’s opening strike was the ideal way for Town to settle into the encounter following the midweek disappointment, and it came from an attack that Jones felt had been missing at Ashton Gate on Tuesday night.

He added: “It’s how we play, we start well, we want to start fast, it’s what we work on.

“We’ve gone away from that, the other day we had a chance to turn it down the side, we don’t, we go into Eli, Eli gives the ball away, and then they turn it down the side of us.

“It’s margins in this league and you get punished.

“Now we have to do what we do, we scored a goal, we’re front-footed, aggressive early on, turned it in behind them, get a corner, get a goal, bang, that’s the margins, that's what we do.

“We play a certain way, we have a certain ethos, we have a certain mantra here that we demand.

“We went away from that on Tuesday, now we've come back and now we have to maintain that.”