Luton Town vs Burnley. Sky Bet Championship.
Kenilworth RoadAttendance10,066.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Luton Town and Burnley at Kenilworth Road as Ashley Barnes steered the Clarets back to winning ways with a late penalty on Saturday.
Saturday 18 February 2023 19:18, UK
Striker Ashley Barnes scored a late winner from the penalty spot as Burnley took another step towards the Premier League with a battling 1-0 victory at Luton.
The Hatters had started well and had the first real chance. Elijah Adebayo linked well with Carlton Morris before going for goal, with goalkeeper Aro Muric saving well to his left at the expense of a corner.
Tom Lockyer's header was easy enough for the visiting stopper, before Burnley had their first real opening on the half-hour - a 30-yard free-kick from Johann Gudmondsson which forced keeper Ethan Horvath into a good save away to his right.
Still Luton looked to upset the form table, though, with Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu juggling with the ball and then having a crack which Muric gathered to his left.
The Hatters should have gone ahead after 38 minutes when Amari'i Bell found the run of Mpanzu in the box and he picked out Adebayo but from just eight yards, the forward could only side-foot wastefully over the crossbar.
Marvelous Nakamba then lofted a hopeful volley almost out of the ground, before Mpanzu had a great chance to open the scoring when sent through by Jordan Clark's header but he got the ball stuck under his feet as the chance went begging.
In the second half, Burnley tried to get some momentum of their own.
Ian Maatsen burst into the home area but as he pulled the trigger Reece Burke was there to make a terrific block.
Town took off top scorer Morris for Cauley Woodrow, but it was Burnley who were beginning to enjoy the better of proceedings. Substitute Vitinho almost broke the deadlock when unmarked from a cross, only to see Lockyer throw himself in the way to clear the danger.
The replacement had another chance moments later but got his angles wrong, dragging wide of the target.
Burnley won a penalty after 78 minutes when Gabe Osho handled inside the area - the third spot-kick Luton have conceded in three games - and Lockyer was booked for his complaints.
Barnes made no mistake from the spot, with Lockyer shown a second yellow by referee Jeremy Simpson for continuing to argue his case.
Luton tried to find a way back into the game during six minutes of stoppage time but the closest they came was a pot-shot from Mpanzu from outside the area which sailed well over the crossbar.
Luton's Rob Edwards:
"I'm so proud of the lads. After getting back about 4am on Thursday after a tough night at Preston, a quick turnaround and then going up against comfortably the best team in the league and putting on a performance like that, I'm so proud of the lads. It was a pen, I think we can deal with the initial free-kick better, but we learn from it and we're human beings. There's going to be one or two mistakes, there were very few out there today, the lads gave everything, ran so hard, fought so hard. We're never going to turn up here today and give Burnley the game they want, they're too good for that.
"They're too good for us to sit off and say 'go on, you have the ball'. We've got to go after them, we've got to make it difficult, we've got to make it really, really hard, we've got to suffocate them and I thought the lads were unbelievable with their energy. That's why Burnley have scored so many late goals this season. I know it was a later one today but they do grind teams down. We didn't allow them to do that, we asked the boys, they've got to give everything, they did it.
"We had some quality as well. I know it was a game of few chances, but the one big chance we had was a great bit of play. It wouldn't happen often to them and I'm giving them lots of credit as I've got massive amounts of respect for them, but they had a free-kick and a penalty as their shots on target. So we limited a really top team to very few chances and we could have done better in the one big moment we had."
Burnley's Vincent Kompany:
"It wasn't going to be any other way and it was a good performance in that fashion. It was something we looked forward to as well. I don't mind those types of games as I think those wins are massive. My image will probably be connected to the other side of the game a bit more, but if you knew me as a person you would know that I take a lot of pride in these wins, a lot of pleasure as well. If that's what the game demands then that's what we do.
"We've been at different grounds, we've played against physical sides all season, but this one is definitely extreme. It gives them a very clear identity and gives them something that can help them over-achieve and teams have felt the full force of it all season, so it's a very special place to come and play. If you look at this game, it was demanding. After every long ball there's a challenge, after every challenge there's a second ball and another challenge.
"The pitch is tight, the quality of pitch - they won't mind me saying - is not the same as some of the other grounds we've played at and this game demands a lot of focus and some nous and experience and in that sense it was a very, very
good game."
