Luton Town moved into the top five of the Sky Bet Championship table with a 1-0 win against Norwich City at Carrow Road on Tuesday evening. Here is what we took from the game:
Lockyer shines as Hatters clip Canaries’ wings
When you looked down the home team sheet it was eminently obvious the star quality that Norwich City had in attacking areas, and as such there was the danger of this being a long night for the Town defence. That particular memo didn’t seem to reach Tom Lockyer, who was superb from start to finish once again.
He kept the central position of the back three and was up against one of the best forwards this level has ever seen in Teemu Pukki but restricted him to mere scraps. Lockyer was also involved in one of the key incidents of the contest when Kenny McLean seemed to hate his presence and duly punched him in the face. Shortly after, the Town went ahead and rightly received his marching orders. That maybe didn’t confirm the Luton win but it made the remainder of the evening slightly easier.
Delightful Doughty impresses on his Luton debut
When the team sheet came through there was an unexpected name listed by Nathan Jones in the form of Alfie Doughty, who made his competitive debut for the Hatters. If his bow was a surprise then the position he occupied was even more so.
Everything we have seen and heard of Doughty since he arrived from Stoke in the summer suggested he had been signed to play left wing-back however here he competed as a central midfielder, a box-to-box one at that. His debut was very encouraging.
As with the two men he partnered in midfield, Doughty got about the pitch very well, closing down any Norwich midfielder who came into Luton territory and then regularly lead or joined in with counter-attacks. One second half burst saw him leave three home players in his wake which on another day could have led to a penalty but shouts for a hand ball from a Harry Cornick flick were waved away. On this evidence, as with almost everyone who comes through the Kenilworth Road doors these days, it looks like Luton have another great player on their hands.
Morris dances through the Norwich defence to fire Luton fourth-
Whenever a team sets up to stifle the opposition and play on the counter-attack there is a lot of emphasis, scrutiny and pressure on the centre forwards. You wouldn’t have thought that was the case as Carlton Morris returned to Carrow Road to leave his former club empty handed with the decisive moment of the game.
Morris pounced on an Allan Campbell pass, used his pace to ghost through a trio of Norwich defenders before producing a couple of step-overs that were far too good for home captain Grant Hanley to open up an avenue to pass the ball into the net for his seventh of the season.
He showed his class by not celebrating the goal but when we look back on the Luton season at the end of the campaign the goal could be a massive moment.
Bell shuts down one of the brightest talents in the league
Luton fans will need no introduction to Max Aarons after his time with the club in his younger days but they could be forgiven for forgetting that he was the home right-back on Tuesday night as Amari’I Bell kept him completely quiet.
Aarons is one of the brightest young properties in the country and has been touted for clubs far and wide with Bayern Munich said to have been among his suitors in the past. Keeping him quiet would have been a large part of the Luton game plan and Bell did that expertly.
Not only did he completely take Aarons out of play but he countered him the other way the longer the match went on. The plaudits went to many Luton players on the night but Bell certainly shouldn’t be forgotten when the praise was handed out.
Win was very much like last season but potentially with a different ending
Think back to last season and a 1-0 win on the road was something that started to become as regular as a new Watford manager or occupant of Number 10. It hasn’t been quite such a frequent score this season, with this being the first time that Luton have won by that score this term, however the full effort, energetic, hardworking display was very much in keeping with last season.
Only this time it feels different. Last term the Town ran out of resources when it mattered the most but this time they have the squad depth to deal with the demands of a Championship campaign. With the personnel they have available to them, this season might follow a similar path to the previous one, only this time the ending could well be much happier.
Déjà vu as history repeats itself
The last time Luton went to Carrow Road backed by their supporters they won 1-0 and knocked then Premier League Norwich out of the FA Cup. There were 85 places between the two sides in the pyramid at the time.
Fast forward to Tuesday night and Luton went to Norfolk knowing that a win would take them above their opponents in the table. The rise Luton have been on over the last eight years is often made reference of but this was a perfect indication of just how far the Hatters have come in such a relatively short space of time. Furthermore, they have done it without handouts for messing up every other season too.
Town head into the derby in fine form
If Tuesday night was a sign of how far Luton have come in the 2020 era, Sunday afternoon is another reminder of it as the Hatters head behind enemy lines to play in front of a crowd for the first time in 16 years, and they couldn’t be going there in better form.
They are seven unbeaten, which includes wins over leaders QPR and a classy Norwich side in the last week. Whatever happens on Sunday, such has been the recent form of the two sides Luton will leave Hertfordshire above their rivals in the table.
However, they go there looking for more than just that significant landmark. They will go there looking for three points, retain the bragging rights and looking to prove that football clubs can be run properly and still be successful.
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