Ten-Man Tottenham Top Premier League Table With 1-0 Win at Luton

Ten-man Tottenham moved top of the Premier League table on Saturday afternoon, courtesy of Micky Van de Ven’s goal in a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Luton. 

Spurs missed a plethora of early chances at Kenilworth Road, and were reduced to 10 when Yves Bissouma was shown a second yellow card for diving on the cusp of half time. 

It was Luton’s turn to miss multiple opportunities in the second half, most notably when Elijah Adebayo bundled wide with the goal gaping. But it was a smart short corner that earned this resilient Spurs side a win after Van de Ven stabbed in from close range.

Ange Postecoglou’s team could have raced into an unassailable early lead in Bedfordshire. First, a fine passing move resulted in Dejan Kulusevski crossing dangerously from the right. Town failed to clear and Richarlison skewed wide from two yards when it appeared easier to score. 

Next, Heung-Min Son and Kulusevski combined to pick out James Maddison in midfield, whose incisive pass sent Richarlison through on goal. The Brazilian shot across goal towards the bottom right corner, but Town keeper Thomas Kaminski denied him with his outstretched left boot. 

Spurs continued to move the ball through the thirds with purpose when Van de Ven played into Son. The forward tapped to Porro, accepted a return pass and sent the Spaniard through on goal with another perfectly-timed pass. Porro stretched to poke the ball beyond Kaminski, but was unfortunate to see his effort trickle past the post. 

Luton could not cope with the tempo at which Tottenham exchanged passes, and after Son curled inches over the top left corner, Town started making clumsy mistakes of their own. Lockyer was booked when he miscontrolled Kaminski’s goal kick and lunged in on Richarlison. Then Alfie Doughty stumbled and Marvelous Nakamba miskicked, but Son let them off the hook by scuffing into the arms of Kaminski.

The Town defence was in disarray once again when Nakamba was dispossessed by Pape Matar Sarr. The Senegalese rolled into the path of Kulusevski whose curling shot was destined for the bottom left corner, but Kaminski dived to his right to heroically tip behind. 

The hosts had been starved of the ball until Chiedozie Ogbene dispossessed Porro in midfield. As the Irishman looked to race upfield, Bissouma hauled him down and was swiftly shown a yellow card by referee John Brooks. 

From the resulting free kick, Doughty’s deep cross was headed across goal by Carlton Morris to Adebayo who pushed Christian Romero over as he hooked towards goal. As the ball rebounded off the post, Tom Lockyer headed into the net and received a kick in the face from Destiny Udogie. In the meantime, Brooks had spotted Adebayo’s shove on Romero and subsequently disallowed the goal. 

Spurs regained control and pushed for an opener as Bissouma embarked on another probing run towards the Luton penalty area before half time. As the Ivorian weaved between defenders at speed, he decided to throw himself to the ground in anticipation of a tackle which never arrived. Brooks was left with no choice but to show the midfielder a second yellow card and send him off. 

Town sought to capitalise on their one-man advantage in the second half by committing more players forward and almost took a surprise lead when Ogbene shook off Udogie on the right flank and crossed towards Adebayo at the back post. Firm contact on the ball would have resulted in a goal, but the gangly forward conspired to trap the ball under his right foot and bundle behind for a goal kick. 

Spurs immediately punished the Hatters for their wastefulness. After forcing a succession of corners, Maddison’s set piece from the left was headed behind by Mpanzu for another corner on the other side. Despite jogging crossfield through a crowded area and towards the opposite corner flag, the former Leicester man was left unmarked and able to receive a short corner from Kulusevski. Displaying impressive agility, Maddison danced past Doughty and passed into Van de Ven whose low left-footed shot squirmed beneath Kaminski and into the net.

Having conceded the first goal in seven of their eight Premier League matches, Luton were in familiar if uncomfortable territory and brushed themselves down by attacking Tottenham. Mpanzu crossed from the right towards Doughty who volleyed across goal, but his promising effort was deflected behind by the diving Porro. 

Minutes later, Doughty regained possession in midfield and passed into Adebayo. The Town number 11 passed to Carlton Morris on his left when Jacob Brown on the right might have been a more inviting option. Morris performed two step-overs and shifted the ball onto his left foot, but was unable to deceive Romero. The forward was still able to release a shot that forced Guglielmo Vicario into a two-handed save, but Town’s players and supporters sensed another valuable chance had slipped away. 

Spurs chose their moments to attack and almost put the result beyond all doubt when Porro curled inches wide of the post with the outside of his right foot, but Postecoglou’s men would have to defend diligently for the final few minutes to claim all three points. 

Town still had three more opportunities from which they should have equalised. Doughty’s cross from the left found an unmarked Brown in the box, however the former Stoke striker headed over. Next, Van de Ven let a long ball bounce and Morris headed through to Cauley Woodrow. After a loose first touch, the substitute was unable to dig the ball out from under his feet and struck tamely towards the grateful Vicario.

Doughty endeavoured to go alone and salvage a point, yet his curling shot from the right was deflected over the bar by Porro, who had impressed at both ends of the pitch. The right-back’s tenacity shone through in a team which is being moulded in its manager’s image. As the full-time whistle blew, Spurs celebrated their best start to a season since 1980.

Jacob Bruun Larsen Belter Gives Burnley First Premier League Win At Luton

Jacob Bruun Larsen’s stunning late goal earned Burnley a 2-1 win over relegation rivals Luton on Tuesday evening - their first of the Premier League season.

Striker Lyle Foster returned to Vincent Kompany’s starting lineup and gave the Clarets the lead at Kenilworth Road with an elegant finish in first-half stoppage time. 

After a lacklustre first-half performance, Luton created an abundance of opportunities after the interval, and thought they’d earned a point when Elijah Adebayo scored from close range, but Larsen struck with seconds of the restart to break Hatters hearts.

Burnley took the game to Luton from the first whistle, sensing that this was a prime opportunity to achieve victory after an unfavourable set of earth fixtures.

Josh Brownhill’s corner from the right was headed towards goal by Zeki Amdouni, only to be denied by Town keeper Thomas Kaminski who tipped over the bar.

The industry of Brownhill and Josh Cullen, and the intelligent movement of Sander Berge allowed Burnley to dominate the midfield, and a passing combination between these three players resulted in Brownhill curling just over.

The Hatters suffered yet another injury setback when Amari’i Bell raced back to return the ball to Kaminski, holding his hamstring as he hobbled off the pitch and was replaced by Reece Burke. 

Town were finally made to pay for a lack of gumption in midfield on the cusp of half time. 

James Trafford’s goal kick was received by Ameen Al Dakhil, who swiftly played into Cullen. His straightforward pass into Sander Berge caught the capricious Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu out of position. From there, the Dane dissected the home defence with a through ball to Foster, who rolled the ball under Kaminski and into the bottom right corner.

Luton rallied in the second half and penned Burnley into their defensive third for large periods, creating their first quality chance when Mpanzu crossed from the left. Brown’s header back across goal flew beyond Trafford, but Cullen had retreated to heroically head off the line.

The hosts thought they had won a penalty minutes later when Carlton Morris was chopped down by Jordan as he prepared to pull the trigger. However, referee Peter Bankes ruled the Clarets defender’s right boot had made minimal contact with the ball, and decided to wave away appeals. 

With time running out, Luton levelled when substitute Tahith Chong’s crossfield ball was headed down by Burke. Adebayo showed skill and strength to control the ball and fend off Al-Dakhil, swivelling to fire low into the bottom left corner.

It’s an old footballing adage that a team is most vulnerable after it has just scored, and after Luton players grabbed the ball out of the Burnley net and raced towards the centre circle, they seemed focused only on scoring a winning goal. 

From the restart, Burnley passed out to Bruun Larsen who deceived Burke, cut inside onto his left foot and curled beyond a helpless Kaminski and into the top left corner, sending the travelling fans into raptures. 

Having been sent into a state of shock, Luton’s players were unable to climb off the canvas as Burnley saw out the final few minutes to secure a statement win. For teams in the lower reaches of the Premier League table wins against fellow rivals are invaluable, and Vincent Kompany will hope this win will work as a springboard in weeks to come.

Tom Lockyer and Carlton Morris Goals Give Luton Maiden Premier League Victory at Everton

First-half goals by Tom Lockyer and Carlton Morris earned Luton a 2-1 victory over Everton at Goodison Park, the Bedfordshire club’s first ever Premier League win.

Rob Edwards’ men, who had amassed just one point in their first five matches, scored twice in seven minutes to stun the disgruntled Goodison Park crowd and record Luton’s first top-flight win since April 1992.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin scrambled in shortly before half time to give Everton hope of a comeback, but the Toffees were made to regret an abundance of missed opportunities. 

Sean Dyche’s side might have established an unassailable lead in the first 15 minutes as Luton lacked composure. 

First Issa Kabore was slow to attack a loose ball and Dwight McNeil lashed wide with a dipping volley from the edge of the box. Next, Abdoulaye Doucoure’ side fence-splitting pass set James Garner away on the right. The Englishman then cut inside and cut inches wide with his left foot.

Another attacking wave resulted in Doucoure laying to Idrissa Gueye on the edge of the box, only for the Senegalese to skew wide.

Town finally responded by attacking down the left side, utilising the pace of Alfie Doughty and Chiedozie Ogbene. Doughty’s out-swinging corner found the head of Tom Lockyer, but the Town captain’s header flew over the bar.

From another corner, Morris connected with Doughty’s delivery, only to see his goal bound header deflect off James Tarkowski.

It was third time lucky for Town and Doughy when he once again picked out Morris from a corner kick. This time his header clattered Adam dr the bar, and when Ashley Young failed to clear the ball, Lockyer showed desire to charge the former Watford man down. To the delight of 3,000 travelling Town fans, the ball rebounded off Lockyer’s outstretched left boot and into the net.

Before Everton could regain their composure, Doughty’s deep free-kick from the left found an unmarked Morris at the back post. With exquisite control, the forward half-volleyed back across goal with the inside of his right foot and into the bottom left corner, sending the away fans into raptures once more.

Town survived a scare when Garner headed against the top of the bar from close range, but Everton managed to halve the deficit on the cusp of half time.

Jordan Pickford’s long goal kick was initially headed clear by Morris, yet Garner retrieved the ball and chipped expertly into Amadou Onana. His close-range effort was saved by Thomas Kaminski, but the ball was eventually smuggled in by Doucoure and Calvert-Lewin.

Despite a lengthy VAR stoppage to check a possible offside, the England striker was eventually awarded the goal and Everton were back in the game.

Town withstood significant pressure at the end of the first half and Calvert-Lewis almost scored his and Everton’s second after the break when his audacious volley rolled wide.

Luton thought they had re-established their two-goal lead minutes later. Doughty was the creator once again. His delicate cross to the back post was headed back across goal by Jacob Brown to Morris who nodded into an empty net. But the linesman quickly raised his flag to indicate Brown had strayed offside.

Town had lost defender Reece Burke and Tom Lockyer to injury, so Sean Dyche sent on Beto to disrupt replacement defenders Mads Andersen and Teden Mengi, and score an elusive equalising goal.

Beto should have netted when McNeil crossed towards Jack Harrison. The Toffees substitute nodded perfectly for Beto, but the forward nodded harmlessly over.

Much to the disbelief of the Gwladys Street End, Beto headed over once again just minutes later after Garner’s deep delivery.

With time running out, Town subs Elijah Adebayo and Cauley Woodrow chased Everton’s players down and defended diligently from the front. And after Town’s makeshift defence cleared yet another long ball, referee Anthony Taylor blew his whistle for a final time.

Jubilant scenes followed, with Rob Edwards and his players gladly accepting the applause from the away fans. With the duck finally broken, Town must approach Tuesday’s visit of fellow relegation rivals Burnley full of confidence.