Own goal sees Luton take victory in six pointer at Hull City

Luton Town took a precious victory in their battle for survival as a scrappy own goal saw them win 1-0 away at Hull City.

Alfie Jones’ unfortunate own goal 12 seconds into the second half was the only goal of the game at the MKM Stadium, handing Luton a second away win under Matt Bloomfield after recently winning another six pointer away at Cardiff.

Victory in East Yorkshire means that the Hatters now find themselves just two points from safety, although they remain 23rd in the table. The Hatters were able to close the gap thanks to their win, on a weekend that saw the Hatters move to within three points of the Tigers, while Derby didn’t play, Cardiff drew, Stoke won and Oxford lost.

The first game after the international break was a crucial one for Luton’s survival hopes, with a result seeing variables from Luton closing the gap on Hull to three points and the Tigers knowing they would extend their margin on Luton to nine points with a win.

Luton began the weekend as the lowest scorers in the division so far this season, with the Hatters having been guilty of missing multiple opportunities in a 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough last time out.

Seemingly aiming to make amends for that, Luton missed the best early opportunity when Elijah Adebayo struck the post after being played in by Jordan Clark.

Liam Walsh’s free-kick then released Carlton Morris, who couldn’t keep his shot on target after breaking the offside trap.

Luton struggled to create chances as good as those in the rest of the first half but were able to keep Hull at arms’ length, with the best opportunity for the Tigers seeing a strike by Kasey Palmer get blocked by Mark McGuinness.

That lead to the game being goalless at half-time, but it wouldn’t stay goalless for long after the break as Luton were gifted an unusual opener.

A long goal-kick from Luton’s Thomas Kaminski had been played forward by Morris and Adebayo to try and play through Thelo Aasgaard.

Home captain Lewie Coyle had read the danger and attempted to clear, but his ball hit team-mate Jones in the face and ricocheted into the bottom corner of the net, giving Luton the lead with the quickest goal scored in the second half in the top 4 divisions of English football this season.

Hull created few opportunities in the remainder of the half, with Abu Kamara missing late on before their single best opportunity saw a strike by Charlie Hughes was well saved by Thomas Kaminski in stoppage time.

Luton’s victory sees them maintain their hopes of survival ahead of a big game next weekend when they welcome Championship automatic promotion contenders Leeds United to Kenilworth Road.