Battling Luton frustrate Burnley at Turf Moor

Posted Sunday, August 07, 2022 by PA

Josh Brownhill rescued a point for Burnley as they drew 1-1 against a battling Luton side at Turf Moor.

The Hatters took an early lead through Dan Potts and then hung on resolutely against a Clarets side that misfired for most of the afternoon.

Burnley had Brownhill to thank though as he scored early in the second half on an afternoon of frustration for the home side.

The Clarets have had a busy summer, recruiting 10 new faces while also letting 13 players leave Lancashire as Vincent Kompany continues to stamp his own mark on the club.

The former Manchester City captain received a healthy reception as he strode across Turf Moor before his first home Championship game in charge.

But the smile on his face did not last long as Luton took a shock fifth-minute lead.

After some patient build-up play, a ball into the box from Amari’i Bell was headed back across goal by Elijah Adebayo and when neither Charlie Taylor or Taylor Harwood-Bellis dealt with the bouncing ball, Potts clipped home.

After taking the lead, Luton prepared themselves for a Burnley onslaught and their defensive commitment was impressive as they kept the Clarets quiet.

With so many new faces, Burnley will take a while to gel and they just could not get going in front of a home crowd that grew increasingly frustrated and restless.

Indeed, the first half was an especially poor advert for the Championship as Burnley looked increasingly blunt going forward while Nathan Jones’ men rolled up their sleeves at the back.

After the break, Burnley immediately showed more potency and attacking desire and they were rewarded with a fine equaliser from Brownhill after 50 minutes.

Luton failed to clear a free-kick properly and when the ball fell to the midfielder on the edge of the area, he curled in a superb shot that left Ethan Horvath no chance.

The goal sparked Burnley into life as Ashley Barnes and new signing Manuel Benson both started to stretch Luton’s defence.

Ian Maatsen grew into the match for the home side and his work down the left after 65 minutes eventually saw Barnes clip just over the bar as the home side went looking for a winner.

The best opportunity to grab three points then fell to Benson with 15 minutes left when he blazed over the bar for Burnley from 12 yards out.

Luton looked increasingly ragged towards the end and Barnes missed another golden chance with 10 minutes remaining when he squirted a shot wide of the far post.

Burnley kept pressing, and finished as the stronger team, but Luton were not to be denied their point in the end.