Late double sees Luton swipe victory against Derby

Luton Town scored a pair of late goals to come from behind and defeat Derby County 2-1 at Kenilworth Road.

The Hatters’ last home game of 2024 nearly ended in defeat when Kayden Jackson’s goal gave the Rams just before the hour and Luton remained behind with 88 minutes on the clock.

But in the final stages, a Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu strike that deflected in off team-mate Tom Holmes gave Luton an equaliser, before Carlton Morris’ shot deflected in to give the Hatters a surprise three points.

Victory means Luton jump ahead of Derby in the Championship table, and they rise up to 14th position in the second tier table ahead of Saturday’s action.

With defeat at Blackburn continuing Luton’s poor away form last time out, the Hatters were hoping to get points on the board in their final home game before Christmas.

The hosts had early opportunities, with Morris heading wide at a free-kick before Tahith Chong was kept out by Derby keeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom.

A tight first half had seen Derby struggle to create opportunities, but in the opening ten minutes of the second half, the Rams did test Thomas Kaminski in the Luton goal when a deflected Jackson strike was kept out by the Belgian.

Ebou Adams then crashed a strike off target, before Luton got much closer to breaking the deadlock when Elijah Adebayo met Tom Krauß’s cross but headed wide.

Just before the hour mark, Derby then broke the deadlock. A passing move down the right flank picked out Kane Wilson, who found Jackson for a header that he duly looped across the keeper and into the back of the net.

Luton were very close to a quick equaliser when Zetterstrom tipped away Morris’ header, but a game that began to open up saw Derby come close again, as Kenzo Goudmijn saw a first time strike denied by Kaminski.

With the minutes running out, Luton seemed to be running out of ideas, leading to some tension among the home ranks.

But with 89 minutes on the clock, an opportunity opened up that Luton took full advantage of. Cauley Woodrow’s free-kick was half cleared out to Mpanzu, who saw a first time drive land in the back of the net. Replays show it took a significant deflection off Mpanzu’s team-mate Holmes, giving the former Reading man the credit for the goal with some sources, but either way, Luton were level.

As the game moved into stoppage time, Luton then found the way through again. Another Luton free-kick was again not fully cleared, and this time the ball ricocheted into the path of Adebayo, who saw a strike kept out by Zetterstrom. The loose ball however fell the way of Morris, who saw a strike hit the arm of Derby defender Curtis Nelson and divert into the top corner, winning the game for the hosts.

After picking up the three points, Luton will now seek to turn attention on improving their away form, as they face a Boxing Day trip to play Bristol City before wrapping up 2024 at Swansea next weekend.