Luton’s hopes of avoiding relegation further hit following loss to Wolves

Posted Sunday, April 28, 2024 by PA

Luton’s Premier League survival bid took another hit as Rob Edwards’ men were beaten 2-1 at his old club Wolves.

A week on from the 5-1 hammering at the hands of Brentford at Kenilworth Road, the Hatters fell behind through Hwang Hee-chan’s finish just before the interval and a diving header from Toti then doubled the hosts’ advantage five minutes into the second half.

Carlton Morris pulled a goal back with 10 minutes of normal time to go but Luton were unable to save themselves from a third successive loss and fifth in six games.

Victorious only once in their last 14 league outings, they remain a point adrift of safety in 18th with three games remaining, one fewer than 17th-placed Nottingham Forest, who host Manchester City on Sunday.

Gary O’Neil’s Wolves move up to 10th having ended their six-match winless run in the league.

Edwards, the former Wolves player and interim boss, had expressed his confidence Luton would “respond in the right way” after the Brentford game.

He saw his side begin positively, with Ross Barkley’s curling shot from just outside the area bringing a diving stop out of Jose Sa in the sixth minute.

Sa then dealt with a weak Jordan Clark effort and a Morris header before Wolves registered their first attempt as Hwang latched on to a through ball and had a low strike saved by Thomas Kaminski.

After further Wolves shots from Toti, hitting into Kaminski’s arms, and Joao Gomes, firing over, Morris saw another header claimed by Sa in the 39th minute.

From Sa’s kick downfield seconds later, the ball was picked up by Matheus Cunha and he fed Hwang, who cut inside Teden Mengi to send a shot, via a deflection, past Kaminski for his 11th league goal of the season and first since returning from Asian Cup duty with South Korea in February.

Hwang then looked to turn provider early in the second half, with his cross aimed for Toti cut out by the sliding Clark.

The resulting corner saw the ball worked from Gomes to Rayan Ait-Nouri and on to Mario Lemina, whose cross to the back post was nodded home by the diving Toti.

As Wolves looked to wrap things up, Boubacar Traore saw a shot go behind off Reece Burke’s head and Nelson Semedo was denied by Kaminski.

There were also misses from Traore, Ait-Nouri and Lemina before Luton then suddenly had a goal back in the 80th minute, Alfie Doughty crossing, Burke heading towards Morris and the skipper volleying in.

Cauley Woodrow sent a shot spinning wide soon after and fellow substitute Luke Berry then saw a shot held by Sa in stoppage time as Luton continued to push in vain for another goal.