Late Declan Rice Header Gives Arsenal Dramatic Late Victory in Luton Thriller

Declan Rice scored with the last touch of the game as Arsenal came from behind to beat Luton 4-3 in a seven-goal thriller, extending their lead at the top of the Premier League table. 

Gabriel Martinelli opened the scoring on 20 minutes before Gabe Osho swiftly restored parity with a powerful header. Then Arsenal retook the lead on the cusp of half time when Gabriel Jesus headed in from close range. 

Gunners goalkeeper David Raya was put back under the spotlight in the second half when he flapped at an Elijah Adebayo header and misjudged a low Ross Barkley shot as Luton took an unlikely lead. But Kai Havertz quickly levelled before Rice’s heroic header in the seventh minute of stoppage time earned Arsenal all three points.

To the surprise of many in attendance at Kenilworth Road, Luton attempted to put Arsenal under pressure from the first whistle, chasing down every pass as Mikel Arteta’s men built from the back. 

When Town did regain possession, however, they made a major error when Amari’i Bell’s sloppy backpass sent Thomas Kaminski scrambling to his left, and the keeper could only scuff the ball out for a throw-in. Jesus showed the presence of mind to throw quickly into the path of Bukayo Saka, who raced past Alfie Doughty and centred for Martinelli. The winger beat Teden Mengi to the ball and dragged delicately into the bottom corner. 

Luton pushed for a quick equaliser and won a corner when Jacob Brown’s cross was deflected behind by Ben White. From Alfie Doughty’s outswinging corner, Osho broke free of his marker to head back across goal and into the net, marking his first Premier League goal.

Kaminski had to be alert when Martin Odegaard’s probing pass found Jesus on the right side of the area. The Brazilian fired towards goal from an acute angle but the Belgian keeper stood firm at the front post to palm behind for a corner. 

Minutes later, Jesus broke down the left flank, drawing defenders towards him before laying into the path of Martinelli who forced Kaminski into another excellent save. The forward dug out a shot with his left foot and the stopper dived to his right, showing superb reflexes to parry with his outstretched right hand.

Kaminski was called into action once again when he kept out Bukayo Saka’s curling effort from the right flank, but Arsenal finally scored the goal their dominance deserved when Brown failed to track the underlapping Ben White, whose excellent chipped cross invited Jesus to score a slam-dunk-style header. 

Mengi’s drive from the edge of the box was caught comfortably by Raya in first-half stoppage time, however it was a sign of things to come after the interval. Town moved the ball from left to right and through the thirds, before Ross Barkley’s driven pass found Andros Townsend, whose shot was deflected behind for a corner. 

This time Doughty sought to put Raya under pressure by floating the ball above the Spaniard, and Adebayo rose highest to beat the Brentford loanee to the ball and head into the empty net, giving Luton hope of an unlikely result. 

Barkley continued to sparkle against top quality opposition when he shrugged off Odegaard in midfield and raced towards the Arsenal box. The former Everton man passed crossfield to Townsend who threatened to shoot before passing back out to Barkley. With one step over and drop of the shoulder, he moved the ball onto his left foot and drove under Raya and into the net.

Luton have made an unhealthy habit of conceding just after they’ve scored, with manager Rob Edwards lamenting goals conceded against Burnley and Crystal Palace. This time Arsenal exploited Town’s weakness when Jesus fended off Mengi before collecting Saka’s high ball and passing to Havertz, who beat Kaminski to the ball and stabbed into the net to deliver the sucker punch. 

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta sent on Oleksandr Zinchenko and Leandro Trossard with ten minutes remaining to unearth a winning goal, and the Ukrainian crossed for Havertz to head towards goal, but Kaminski won the duel this time and tipped over the bar.

As the clock ticked beyond the six added minutes of stoppage time signalled by the fourth official. Arsenal pumped a free-kick into the Luton box. After Luton defended the first phase, Zinchenko rolled into the path of Odegaard who whipped an excellent cross towards Rice, whose header flew beyond Kaminski and into the bottom corner, prompting pandemonium in the away end. 

The moment encapsulated the fine margins between victory and defeat in elite sport. Replays show the ball had even deflected off the head of Osho on its way into the net, intensifying the agony for Luton and ecstasy for Arsenal, who momentarily moved five points clear atop the Premier League table.