Swansea City vs Luton Town FC (29th Dec 2025)

29/12/2024 SWANSEA CITY 2-1 LUTON TOWN

Hatters sunk by late Swansea winner

Morris on target but 10-man Hatters fall to last-gasp defeat at Swansea

There was late heartbreak for 10-man Town as a late injury-time winner condemned the Hatters to a ninth successive away defeat in the Championship.

Swansea substitute Myles Peart-Harris’ header in the 91st-minute was cruel on Rob Edwards’ men who had battled at 1-1 having played the final 22 minutes a man light following Joe Johnson’s harsh red card for a second bookable offence.

It had started so brightly for the Hatters in the final game of 2024 with Carlton Morris firing the Town in front after just five minutes. Swans keeper Lawrence Vigouroux’s poor clearance landed at the feet of the Hatters captain and he made no mistake when volleying home from 10 yards for his seventh of the season.

The goal would be the nearest the Town would come to threatening the home side in the first half as the home side dominated.

Jisung Eom toed a shot against the post on 13 minutes while a Liam Cullen header diverted a header wide shortly before the half-hour as the hosts pushed for a leveller.

The pressure continued. Thomas Kaminski produced a fine save to paw away a drive from Ronald on 35 minutes but the Town’s luck ran out on 38 minutes when the hosts levelled. Kaminski somehow kept out an effort from Ronald from point-blank range but Goncalo Franco was on hand to tap-home the rebound.

After a lack of attacking threat after the goal, the Town had the ball in the Swansea box 15 minutes after the break when Marvelous Nakamba won the ball but neither Morris or Elijah Adebayo could make the most of the opportunity.

Kaminski came to the Hatters’ rescue moments later as the game swung from end-to-end, the keeper acrobatically turning away Harry Darling’s header from eight yards.

In truth the Town were looking more of an attacking force in the second period but any hopes of pinching three points were dealt a blow on 68 minutes when Johnson received his marching orders for the second of two soft bookings.

With 20 minutes remaining a man down, it was backs to the wall for the Town. Former Cardiff man Mark McGuinness threw himself in front of everything as the Hatters desperately tried to hold onto a point.

But, in the first of seven added minutes, Swansea’s pressure paid off. A ball lofted into the Town penalty area was headed back across goal by Darling and Peart-Harris was on hand at the back post to guide a header into the top corner to shatter the Hatters.

Edwards’ side couldn’t muster a response to going behind and the hosts almost grabbed a late third when Zan Viptonik’s close range effort was magnificently blocked by Kaminski.

In the dying, final moments, the Town tried in vain to create a last-gasp equaliser but time was up and the Hatters were left to reflect on another defeat away from Kenilworth Road.

Town: Kaminski, Johnson, Bell, McGuinness, Holmes, Nakamba (sub Nelson 65), Chong, Krauß (sub Mpanzu 85), Clark, Adebayo (sub Walters 71), Morris.

Subs not used: Krul, Moses, Woodrow, Pieters, Taylor, Hashioka.

Attendance: 16,414, including 770 in the away end backing the Town.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TICMO0zQdY – Match highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7UDIWIKVus – Rob Edwards interview

Luton concede stoppage time winner as they suffer a ninth successive away defeat at Swansea

Championship: Swansea City 2 Luton Town 1

Luton saw their run of successive away defeats stretch to nine as they suffered a cruel, cruel stoppage time defeat at Swansea City this afternoon.

The Hatters looked like they might finally come close to lifting the noose around their neck which has been their form on the road, as after somehow still being in the contest following a first half in which the hosts dominated, they were beginning to gain a foothold in proceedings after the break, until reduced to 10 men with 22 minutes to go, young defender Joe Johnson sent off for his second booking.

Having got through to the first minute of seven added on, the visitors’ back-line, marshalled superbly by Mark McGuinness, had defended valiantly, until finally breached, the hosts winning first contact to a deep cross and sub Myles Peart-Harris speeding in to plant his header beyond Thomas Kaminski and break Luton hearts.

Earlier, Town boss Rob Edwards had made two changes to the side beaten 1-0 by Bristol City on Boxing Day as Amari'i Bell returned after missing the last four games with a hamstring injury suffered in the 1-1 draw against the Welsh side at Kenilworth Road earlier this month, Marvelous Nakamba also back in too.

That saw Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu and Victor Moses drop to the bench where they were joined by summer signing Reuell Walters for the first time since early October having recovered from his broken foot. Lining up with Bell dropping into the back three and pushing Johnson to the left wingback role, with Tahith Chong heading over to the right hand flank, the Hatters were gifted the perfect start on just five minutes.

City, who like to persist with a dangerous game of passing out from the back, saw it go completely wrong on this occasion, goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux's clearance hit straight at Carlton Morris. Town's skipper saw the ball rebound off his outstretched leg and then fall perfectly for him to volley into the empty net with the red-faced keeper caught woefully out of position.

Swansea didn't ever change their possession-based style despite the early calamity, almost levelling on 13 minutes when a deep cross was spilled by Thomas Kamsinki but a sliding Jisung Eom couldn't get the connection he wanted, allowing Town's number one to gather gratefully. He was then excellently position when a long ball sliced through the Hatters' defence, racing out of his area to clear, as Luton stuck to their task in the opening half an hour, Mark McGuinness, booed throughout for his Cardiff connections with a vital intervention

The hosts appealed for a penalty when Chong slid in to knock the ball back to his keeper before Eom could get there, which he did, the South Korean going over his leg, as referee Farai Hallam quite correctly ignored the hosts. Having scored from a well-worked corner routine in the 1-1 draw at Luton, Swansea were often looking to produce some crafty set-piece routines, one of them going all the way back before a deflected shot bounced up invitingly for Liam Cullen to nod narrowly wide on the half hour.

Luton were indebted to Kaminski for keeping them ahead on 35 minutes when Jordan Clark and Nakamba gave the ball away, possession instantly transferred to the right where Ronald had a crack, Town's keeper getting fingertips to turn it behind for a corner. Again, Swansea worked the ball into the box by going short, although this time Cullen stabbed wide.

With set-pieces causing a constant problem, it was no real surprise when another led to the Swans leveller on 38 minutes, as this time they went for the direct approach. A spell of pinball followed as Luton couldn't clear their lines and just when it looked like Kaminski had come to the rescue with a terrific point blank save, Goncalo Franco reacted quickest to bundle the loose ball over the line.

Late in the first half, Eom who was having plenty of success up against Chong on the hosts' left, jinked one way and the other, sending in a cross that bounced over the boot of Johnson, Ronald's header landing on the roof of the net. Having been utterly dominated in both the possession and territory states during that first period, the Hatters could consider themselves fortunate not to be facing a penalty in the early stages of the second period, Florian Bianchini pulling a cross down and hitting the turf under pressure from Tom Holmes when about to pull the the trigger, referee Hallam giving nothing once more.

To their credit, Luton did finally start to see more of the play, Clark getting involved, as after some audacious skill, he went on to dink a pass over the top that McGuinness swung narrowly off target. Having already scored once from some dubious Swansea play at the back, the Hatters almost did exactly the same when pressing their opponents into another mistake, only for Nakamba to choose the wrong option as the opportunity went begging, Edwards hurling his water bottle in pure frustration.

Kaminski was to come to the rescue again on the hour mark, a free kick met by the completely unmarked Harry Darling who powered his header into the ground, Luton's stopper able to fly to his right and turn it behind. Although they deserved credit for finally taking the game to their hosts and starting to become a genuine attacking threat, Town were still loose at the back themselves, causing some unnecessary alarms.

Just when they were starting to gain ahead of steam though, the visitors crucially found themselves a man light as Johnson was adjudged to have tripped his man by referee Hallam. Having opted to keep his cards in his pocket with the Swans players made similar repeated offences, he opted to brandish a second booking to the teenager, which meant he had to go.

Eager to keep things tight, Edwards brought on Walters for Elijah Adebayo to try and make sure they left with something for their battling efforts, Kaminski denying Darling with far greater ease as he had an ambitious attempt from 30 yards out, doing the same when Cullen had a pop from slightly closer on 75 minutes too.

The close stages then resembled an attack versus defence training exercise, McGuinness to the fore for Luton, one vital header away followed by being first out to shut down a shot, Holmes joining in the fun with his own diving clearance too. Unfortunately all that hard work was to ultimately go to waste as the clock ticked past 90, a long ball was nodded back for Peart-Harris to break Town's hearts.

Although they had time to mount a fightback, it never looked likely, Kaminski preventing Jan Vipotnik from adding a third with another superb reflex stop. Even later, Luton almost had a chance to leave with a point, Clark turning down the chance to have a crack, while try as they might, the visitors just couldn't get the ball into the box as City's defence stood firm as Town show no signs of curing their now almost terminal bout of travel sickness.

Swans: Lawrence Vigouroux, Josh Key, Ben Cabango, Harry Darling, Matt Grimes (C), Jisung Eom (Myles Peart-Harris 73), Josh Tymon, Goncalo Franco (Jay Fulton 53), Florian Bianchini (Zan Vipotnik 77), Liam Cullen, Ronald (Azeem Abdulal 90).

Subs not used: Jon McLaughlin, Nathan Tjoe-A-On, Cyrus Christie, Kyle Naughton, Ben Lloyd.

Hatters: Thomas Kaminski, Tahith Chong, Tom Holmes, Mark McGuinness, Joe Johnson, Amari’i Bell, Marvelous Nakamba (Zack Nelson 64), Tom Krauß (Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu 86), Jordan Clark, Elijah Adebayo, (Reuell Walters 71), Carlton Morris (C). Subs not used: Tim Krul, Victor Moses, Cauley Woodrow, Erik Pieters, Joe Taylor, Daiki Hashioka, Zack Nelson.

Referee: Farai Hallam.

Booked: McGuinness 30, Johnson 31, Clark 60, Grimes 90.

Sent off: Johnson 68.

Attendance: 16,414 (770 Hatters).

Luton boss felt red card 'completely changed' the game during Swans loss

Hatters chief frustrated with decision to send off Johnson

Luton boss Rob Edwards felt the red card shown to Town defender Joe Johnson during Luton’s 2-1 defeat at Swansea City this afternoon completely changed the game.

With the scores level at 1-1, the teenager, who had been booked in the first period, was then adjudged to have tripped Eom Ji-Sung as he sped into a mass of Hatters bodies, referee Farai Hallam brandishing a second yellow which saw him dismissed. Although the official came on out Luton’s side when not awarding a penalty against Tom Holmes in the early stages of the second period, he was definitely far more lenient towards the home players when it came to filling up his notebook.

Having made 17 fouls to the Swan’s 14, Luton seeing Mark McGuinness and Jordan Clark cautioned, with Johnson picking up two, the Swans escaped punishment for similar if not identical offences, until Matt Grimes was eventually carded in stoppage time. With the academy graduate off the field, Luton’s intentions of pushing on for victory were ended, as they tried to defend for the closing stages, eventually breached in the first minute of stoppage time by Myles Peart-Harris’s close range header.

Discussing the incident, Edwards said: “People can have their own opinions and be critical, I’m not at all. I think he’s trying to avoid it, and the lad’s running at him at full speed. It’s a difficult position for Joe to be in, so I don’t think it was. I think the lads tried to avoid contact, he's gone over, but it happens very quickly and the ref’s made a decision and that’s his call. It’s changed the game completely.

Discussing the incident, Edwards said: “People can have their own opinions and be critical, I’m not at all. I think he’s trying to avoid it, and the lad’s running at him at full speed. It’s a difficult position for Joe to be in, so I don’t think it was. I think the lads tried to avoid contact, he's gone over, but it happens very quickly and the ref’s made a decision and that’s his call. It’s changed the game completely.

Although Swansea were clearly the better side in the first period, dominating all aspects of the contest apart from the goals column, after the break it had become a more even affair at least until Johnson’s dismissal which saw City take control once more. Edwards had been happy enough with his team’s efforts overall though, as he added: “You have to defend, I watched them last time out here against QPR and they completely dominated the game.

"I felt that we were still comfortable in our defending in the first half, but in the second half we were better. The intensity and the pressing was really good, regains were great, when we won it back we kept it better. There were too many turnovers in the first half which was a similar story to when we played them in the first game. But that was better in the second half and we were the better team up until the red card.”

Edwards describes Town's away run as 'horrible' after Luton are beaten yet again

Hatters beaten for a ninth game in a row

Luton manager Rob Edwards labelled his side’s woeful run of form away from Kenilworth Road as ‘horrible’ after they went down to their ninth successive defeat on the road when beaten 2-1 by Swansea City on Sunday.

The Hatters had given themselves a great chance of ending the sequence when taking a fifth minute lead through Carlton Morris’s sixth goal of the season, Town’s skipper taking advantage of an awful clearance by home keeper Laurence Vigouroux to volley into an empty net. However, as against Coventry City and Norwich City, Luton were unable to preserve their advantage, a dominant Swans restoring parity before the break when Goncalo Franco was on target after the visitors couldn’t clear their lines from a corner.

After the interval, Town did finally come into the game a bit more, but that threat then evaporated once Joe Johnson was sent off for his second booking with 22 minutes to go. Edwards’ side, with Mark McGuinness showcasing just why the Hatters forked out such a fee for him with a terrific individual defensive display, did try and cling on for a first point since mid-September when winning 1-0 at Millwall, before conceding in the first minute of stoppage time, Myles Peart-Harris allowed to speed in and nod past Thomas Kaminski.

It means that Luton’s record this season now stands at 10 defeats from 12 matches, claiming just four points out of possible 36, while it ends a calendar year that Edwards will most definitely want to forget, Town’s league record on their travels standing at 17 losses from 22 fixtures, taking just seven points from the 66 on offer. Speaking about the sequence, he said: “Look at the run, it’s horrible away from home.

"The run, the results, there’s no hiding from that, but the performances haven’t been bad, not all of them and especially not lately. The group are committed, they gave absolutely everything. It was a good performance. Swansea are really, really good and complicated in how they play, but especially in the second half we were the better team. The red card’s completely changed it. That’s it, we’ve lost the game, but performance-wise there was a lot of good things to take, I know people won’t care and won’t want to hear that.”

Luton’s goal when it came was clearly something the visitors had worked on, Morris perfectly positioned to make the most of Vigouroux’s attempted pass out from the back. It almost worked once more after the break though, Marvelous Nakamba winning the ball back inside the Swans’ area, although this time he chose the wrong option as the opportunity was frittered away, a frustrated Edwards hurling his water bottle in the dug-out.

The boss added: “We’ve scored a few, Norwich, Oxford, that one today from our pressing and our pressing is always really good. We’re one of the teams that has to defend the most long balls because of how aggressive we press and how hard we press, so it was a really good reward for that and a great way to start the game. We got a big moment where Marv won the ball back in their penalty area and Carlton was free. At that moment we just made the wrong decision and didn’t take that chance. It was a good opportunity that.”