Manager Rob Edwards admitted his Luton side experienced what elite feels and looks like as they saw Chiedozie Ogbene’s first half goal overturned in ruthless fashion by title-chasing Liverpool.
For 44 minutes, Town dreamt of a first-ever win at Anfield after the Republic of Ireland international stunned the Kop early in the first half, heading in after Tahith Chong’s shot was deflected onto his head.
But recent lapses in concentration continued as Liverpool scored two goals in two minutes from set-pieces to kick-start a second half romp through skipper Virgil van Dijk and his Holland counterpart Cody Gakpo.
But even in the first half, despite taking the lead against Liverpool, it was largely one-way traffic in the Reds’ favour, forcing the Hatters into mistakes, only for Teden Mengi and errant finishing thwarting them.
Edwards said: “It’s good for our lads to experience what proper elite is and how it feels as well. When we talk about winning the ball back quickly, that’s what it is. That’s what it looks like, that’s what it feels like.
“So, in a way, we can take some good bits even from the second half, if we learn from it and try to action some of those.”
Worryingly for Town, midfielder Sambi Lokonga was withdrawn at half time after feeling a tweak in his hamstring and his influence was missed in the second half, but the league leaders were intense and overwhelming.
Edwards said: “We kept stepping up, trying to do the right things but we just came up against Liverpool and Anfield in the second half.
“They were brilliant and we couldn’t quite cope with that in the second half. Our lads were great and gave it everything but Liverpool were just greater on the night. In the end, I just felt that the top quality that they’ve got, Anfield as well, it just made a difference.”
And such was the host’s dominance after the break, that any goal looked like it would open the floodgates for a side that had recovered 19 points from losing positions prior to this. It came with a towering header, unchallenged, from the home skipper Van Dijk on 56 minutes and quickly the Red tide turned it around.
Town, still rocking from the leveller, weren’t alert to a throw-in and Alexis Mac Allister picked out Gakpo stole in past Gabriel Osho to punish them.
“We have to make sure we’re always concentrating all of the time, especially against the best teams,” Edwards told the BBC, adding: “We got punished on a couple moments there.”
The Hatters had barely been in Liverpool’s half when Luis Diaz, so frustrated in the first half by Mengi, side-stepped the former Manchester United man to slot inside the near post past Thomas Kaminski.
But for the Belgian stopper, it could have been an even bigger score as the Premier League leaders went in relentless search of more goals to bolster their four-point buffer at the summit of the top flight.
They got it in the 90th minute as Harvey Elliot marked his 100th appearance for Liverpool with a clinical top corner finish.
Defeat for the Hatters, a third on the spin, leaves them in the bottom three but after the weekend, where they do not play, their game in hand will be restored over Everton.
For now, this was a sobering defeat, but not a damaging one against a Liverpool team that had lost just once in 54 league matches at their fortress of a stadium.
No-one outside of Luton was anticipating a Hatters win, but those Town fans that were there 12 years to the day when their side were beaten 1-0 at Barrow in the non-league, will know that their Premier League survival was never predicated on getting results at places like Anfield.
But, for those 44 minutes Town, fans dreamed.
