Swansea 2 Luton 0: Pearson sees red as wasteful Hatters pay the price – report, ratings and reaction

Matty Pearson saw red as Luton went down 2-0 to Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium, on an afternoon where they were made to pay the price for missing some gilt-edged chances. 

Going in search of successive victories for the first time since the opening two matches of the season, goals at either end of the game left them fruitless in that quest, despite the performance deserving a lot more than it got. 

“It purely flattered them two-nil,” said manager Nathan Jones, adding: “One is really later after we were chasing the game when we had as many attackers as I could have possibly brought on the pitch.

“But I thought apart from the first minute and a half, we were outstanding. Deflected shot, that can happen sometimes, but we’ve had the better chances, more possession, we pressed, I thought we were excellent, I really, really do.”

“I’m proud of the performance, it’s difficult to say you are proud of the performance when you lost 2-0 but that doesn’t tell the story of what has happened today.”

For the second Saturday in succession in Wales, Town got off to a dreadful start as a nothing shot from Conor Roberts caught a cruel ricochet off a Matty Pearson leg to loop up over James Shea and in. 

Swansea nearly doubled their lead after 12 minutes when Dan Potts did brilliantly to take the heat out of a Cabango header on his return to the side, allowing Shea a more comfortable save than it might have been.

That brought about a change in formation from Jones, after which the Hatters dominated the remainder of the half and were left wondering how they went in at the break behind. 

George Moncur was unlucky with a 25-yard hit which Freddie Woodman spilled onto the post before Luke Berry was guilty of one of the misses of the season when a cross from Jordan Clark fell at his feet with the goal gaping, only for the midfielder to lift over from six yards when it looked easier to score. 

Town were not as fluent in the second period, on a pitch which started out heavy and resembled a cow field by the time Andre Ayew put the game beyond them with a thumping strike from the edge of the box with two minutes to go. The same man had earlier preserved the lead for the home side when he hacked a Glen Rea header off the line. 

Luton’s chances of getting something from the contest were not helped with the dismissal of Pearson after 70 minutes, when his overhead kick in the Swansea box resulted in dangerous play and saw him receive his marching orders, courtesy of a second yellow card.

Jones told lutontown.co.uk: “It’s a high foot but let’s not talk about the referee because the referee, his performance was no where near the level of my teams’ performance today, so let’s leave it at that.”

Town huffed and puffed without creating anything after the sending off, but while being much happier with the performance than down the road in Cardiff last week, Jones will be left scratching his head as to how his side failed to find the net and ultimately left the Liberty Stadium empty handed.

PLAYER RATINGS: 

James Shea: 6 – Had no chance with either goal and not a huge amount to do apart from that but fielded the ball well and commanded his area strongly.

James Bree: 6 – Solid if unspectacular return to the starting line up for the right-back. Could have had an assist with his corner when Glen Rea saw his header cleared off the line.

Tom Lockyer: 7 (Man of the Match) – The Wales international shone on familiar turf with his best performance in a Town shirt so far. Did his defensive duties well and make regular breaks forward from his centre-back position, but Town couldn’t find that final pass to capitalise.

Matty Pearson: 3 – Unfortunate to see Conor Roberts’ shot hit him in the second minute and float into the net and then saw two bookings in the space of 10 minutes end his afternoon early.

Dan Potts: 5.5 – Excellent block in the first half to keep Town in the game. Made his way forward from wing-back but couldn’t find that killer end product to get the Hatters level. Solid return from injury though.

Glen Rea: 5 – Switched positions throughout the match, starting in midfield before returning to the heart of the defence after the reshuffle. Unlucky not to score when his header was hacked off the line. Received a fifth yellow card of the season on 52 minutes.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall: 5 – Rare quiet afternoon for this supremely talented midfield maestro. Perhaps a game too many in this hectic period. Replaced by Elliot Lee after 61 minutes.

Luke Berry: 5.5 – Got about it in the middle of the park but lacked the creativity we’ve seen in recent weeks. Guilty of that horror miss midway through the first period which could have changed the game completely. Replaced by Kazenga LuaLua on 81 minutes.

George Moncur: 6 – Energetic effort from the creative midfielder. Unlucky not to score as his 25-yarder was parried onto the post. Comfortable in possession before being replaced by Harry Cornick on 61 minutes.

Jordan Clark: 6.5 – Very bright throughout and should have had an assist to his name having provided the ball across that saw Luke Berry miss from close range. Direct with his running when in possession of the ball, before being asked to cover at left-back after the sending off. Continues to look an exciting talent.

James Collins: 5 – Not really the sort of game for the centre-forward who was well marshalled by the three Swansea centre-backs.

SUBSTITUTES:

Elliot Lee: 4 – Saw lots of the ball after coming on for Dewsbury-Hall but did little to nothing with it. Ended up on the floor as much as he stayed on his feet.

Harry Cornick: 3.5 – Had a half chance with a header soon after coming on but the remainder of his time on the pitch involved a lot of running without really getting in the game.

Kazenga LuaLua: 3.5 – Another who didn’t make an impression on the game after coming off the bench, albeit in an alien position.

Unused subs: Ryan Tunnicliffe, Harry Isted, Brendan Galloway, Sam Nombe, Joe Morrell, Dion Pereira