Luton made history with their first-ever Premier League win which goal hero Carlton Morris labelled “very special”.
A first-half opener from Tom Lockyer, who virtually tackled the ball into the Everton net at Goodison Park, was added to by the striker for his third goal of the campaign, with a free-kick routine straight off the training ground.
Those goals were the first time Town have taken the lead in the division and the first time they’ve scored more than once.
A slight dampener was put on proceedings when Dominic Calvert-Lewin halved the deficit before the break, despite a VAR check.
The withdrawal of centre half Reece Burke at the interval was further compounded when Lockyer had to be replaced by Teden Mengi for his Hatters’ league bow. But the former Manchester United defender helped partnered expertly with Mads Andersen to keep out the Toffees to guide Luton to a historic victory that lifted them out of the bottom three.
“It’s very special, of course. Everything this club’s been through, it’s been magic,” said match-winner Morris, adding: “We had a lot of those types of games last season. We’ve got an experienced squad of boys that aren’t afraid to dig in, dig in, dig in and soak up the pressure like they did. It was outstanding.”
Town boss Rob Edwards has been talking of the improvement his side has been making, and Morris said: “I feel like that’s not even our best performance so far this season but it’s a tough league. You can be 100 per cent at it and you’re not going to get the result you’re after sometimes. If we keep putting in these performances we’ll keep getting the points.”
It was his volley from Alfie Doughty’s free-kick that put Luton in the position to earn those points and on the stunning strike, he told the BBC: “It’s something we work on and when it comes off it’s a great feeling. Alfie’s delivery from set pieces today, and even in the game, was absolutely incredible and gave us a lot of joy. We were able to capitalise on that today.
“That’s part of the game plan that we’ve worked on. We’ve come here and executed and it’s just a feeling to come away with the result this time as well.”
Morris also had a goal chalked off, which could’ve made the victory more comfortable and the top scorer said: “I was gutted with that one. I didn’t realise Browny (Jacob Brown) was offside, but it’s about being in those areas to get those tap-ins when the ball does come across, that’s my takeaway from that.”
But despite seven nervous minutes of time added on, the final whistle brought incredible scenes in the away end at Goodison at Luton’s first top-flight triumph since April 1992, or 11,480 days ago.
Morris said: “I just want to touch on the fans quickly. Obviously, we lost our first four games and they were there in voice every single week.
“It’s incredible that we never felt they were turning on us. I’ve felt in the last two games like we’ve put forward performances that they can be proud of.
“Getting that win today for those travelling fans and all the ones at home watching, that’s a good feeling as well.”
But while those travelling supporters will have every right to celebrate this weekend, their team have a big game at home to fellow newly-promoted side Burnley in midweek and Morris said: “We’re not getting too high, we’re not getting carried away. We’ve got another big game on Tuesday and we’re looking to take the momentum into that.
“It’s a big game on Tuesday. To be honest, every game’s a massive game, every game’s a massive test. We can definitely take confidence from this game going into that and at Kenilworth Road with our fans behind us, I’m looking forward to it.”
