Luton Town got the better of Coventry in the penalty shootout as they produced one of the narrow football scores of the weekend in the Championship playoff final. In the Championship play-off final, the Hatters, who were demoted from the Premier League in 1992, took the lead in the first half through Jordan Clark. Gustavo Hamer responded for Coventry in the second, but the Hatters ultimately won in the shoot-out after Fankaty Dabo missed in sudden death.
2018 saw this League Two match, and Luton made history by being the first team to descend from England’s top flight to the non-League and back again. Just nine years ago, they weren’t even in the EFL. The 22-year wait for Coventry to play in the Premier League will continue for at least one more year. But it in no way diminishes Mark Robins and his team’s remarkable season, which came after they finished their own stratospheric climb.
It was Luton who controlled the first half and took the lead in 23 minutes, despite losing captain Tom Lockyer, their hero from the semi-final, as he tumbled off the ball early on. With his amazing effort and smooth technique, Elijah Adebayo defeated Kyle McFadzean in the final stages before setting up Clark to beat Ben Wilson with a shot.
Coventry was totally outplayed in the first half, so Robins tried to change things up by bringing on Matty Godden early in the second. And the maneuver had the desired effect, as Coventry was tied after 66 minutes. It was also the result of a quick counterattack after excellent work from Viktor Gyokeres set up Hamer, who scored deftly from the edge of the box. It was the first time in 11 years when an equalizer was scored in a Championship play-off final.
The goal was sufficient to force extra time, and in the closing seconds, Luton thought they had won it when substitute Joe Taylor pounced on a Jonathan Panzo gaffe to race through and score. However, VAR correctly determined that the ball had struck Taylor’s hand on the way through before going in. The game then went to sudden death after all 10 penalties were converted. Prior to Dabo’s successful penalty attempt and the Hatters’ entry into the Premier League, Luke Berry scored Luton’s sixth goal.
“Even while it feels amazing, all I can think of right now is Tom Lockyer. This season, he has been a huge help to us. Health and family are the most essential things, so as long as he is okay, which I know he is, I don’t care,” Luton Town boss Rob Edwards said. “A handful of the men spoke with him when he was hospitalized. He is being taken care of very properly. That’s where my thoughts are right now. At the moment, celebrating seemed a little inappropriate. Just an emotional feeling. I must express my admiration for Mark Robins and Coventry and my sympathies. I am aware of how much they have endured, and he did an amazing job. It was so close. Over three games and via penalties, you were unable to separate us. He deserves a lot of praise.”
“Since this is now about Luton and their supporters, congratulations. They have excelled all season. We could not have performed much worse in the first half, but in the second half, we gave them a game. They started to rock when we scored; you could feel it,” Coventry manager Mark Robins said. “We gave our everything. We need to use this as fuel to keep going forward. To make the good moments feel better, you need a mood like this. Even if there is currently agony, we must admit that this was an amazing effort. There is no shame in the fact that we have dropped one of our past 20 games in regulation.”
“I don’t currently have a response, however, there is work to be done as we prepare to start a rebuilding phase. Before talking about what could happen in the future, we must first let the suffering to pass,” he added. “The previous season, Luton lost in the playoffs but then triumphed. We need to develop a team since we are aware of how hard the Championship is and want to return one day.”
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