Elijah Adebayo scores first Premier League Hat-Trick as Luton Thrash Brighton

Elijah Adebayo became the first Luton Town player to score a Premier League hat-trick as the Hatters recorded an emphatic 4-0 victory over Brighton at Kenilworth Road. 

The marksman took just 19 seconds to open his account when he flicked a header past Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele from close range. Remarkably, Luton were on the scoresheet again two minutes later after Chiedozie Ogbene rounded Steele and tapped into an empty net. 

Adebayo had his second goal of the night when he ran on to Ross Barkley’s precision pass and slotted in at the near post. And 11 minutes into the second half, the forward completed the scoring by heading in from Alfie Doughty’s corner, becoming the first Luton player to score a top flight treble since Lars Elstrup in September 1990. 

Town made the perfect start to the match when Reece Burke pounced upon Facundo Buonanotte’s loose touch to win back possession. From there, Carlton Morris passed to Adebayo, who in turn rolled out to Chiedozie Ogbene on the right flank. The wing-back chipped towards Morris at the back post who rose above Pascal Gross to head across goal, where Adebayo beat Steele to the ball, nodding past the sprawling Lewis Dunk and into the net. 

Only 1 minute and 58 seconds later, Town had doubled their advantage over an Albion side who qualified for the Europa League last season. Albert Sambi Lokonga picked the ball up from deep and struck a long ball in behind the Brighton defence, drawing Steele out of his area to clear the danger. However, Ogbene displayed his lightning pace to beat the keeper to the ball, taking two quick touches towards goal and prodding over the goal line.  

The home fans were ecstatic and the Luton players had clearly been pumped up by the return of their captain Tom Lockyer. The Welshman – who suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch during the Premier League match at Bournemouth in December – had walked around the pitch before the game and appeared emotional as he was applauded by both sets of supporters. 

The hosts continued to put Brighton under relentless pressure by collectively charging them down as they attempted to pass out from the back. When Gabe Osho robbed the ball from Buonanotte and passed to Ogbene, the Irishman rolled into Ross Barkley who shaped up to shoot before playing a delightful through ball to Jordan Clark. He cut inside from the right and fired a low, left-foot shot towards goal which was booted away by Steele. 

As half time approached, Barkley was again in the thick of the action when he intercepted Pervis Estupiñán’s pass infield. The England international exchanged passes with Adebayo before gliding towards goal and passing back to Town’s number 11, who had run in behind Albion defender Igor Julio. From the right side of the box, Adebayo postured to shoot across goal before calmly and assertively releasing a low shot into the bottom right corner of the net. The forward inadvertently collided with Dunk during the celebrations, sending both himself and the Brighton skipper to the turf. 

Albion had no answer to Luton’s tactics and conceded again at the start of the second half. Adebayo fended off Dunk – who was pulling his shirt as he fell to the ground – turned and passed to strike partner Morris. Town’s number nine executed a series of stepovers before shooting with his right foot, an effort which was saved by Steele but parried back into the danger zone where Clark was waiting to tap in. Luckily for Brighton, they were handed a reprieve when the linesman raised his flag to disallow the goal for offside. 

But it wouldn’t take long before Luton got their fourth goal. On 56 minutes, Doughty’s in-swinging corner from the right was accidentally flicked on at the near post by former Watford forward Joao Pedro, and Adebayo was in the right spot to head down and into the net from six yards, wheeling away to celebrate his first professional hat-trick in front of the fans at the Kenilworth Road End.

Pedro had been marked out of the game by the imperious Reece Burke, who chased the Brazilian across the pitch and refused to give him a moment’s rest. Clearly frustrated by the performance of his team, Pedro hobbled off injured on 71 minutes after taking a swipe at Osho. 

Brighton manager Roberto de Zerbi had made two attacking substitutions at half-time, replacing Buonanotte with Evan Ferguson and swapping Estupiñán with Tariq Lamptey, but they had little impact on the game. Lamptey might have pulled one goal back when he volleyed into the side netting after Danny Welbeck had forced Thomas Kaminski into his only noteworthy save of the evening. The Belgian had dived to his left to push away Welbeck’s attempt which was destined for the top corner.

Both Kaminski’s clean sheet - his second of the season - and the impressive scoreline showed how much this Town side have improved since the 4-1 defeat at the AMEX Stadium on the opening day of the season. Albion may have produced their worst performance of the season at Kenilworth Road, but Town were on fire, forcing their opponents into mistakes and punishing them.

The full-time celebrations proved Rob Edwards and his team are full of belief that they can survive in the Premier League this season, after recording the club's biggest top flight victory since the 6-1 hammering of Southampton on New Year's Day 1989.