Blackburn Rovers 2-0 Luton Town: John Eustace's side ease to sixth win in succession

Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Blackburn Rovers and Luton Town at Ewood Park on Saturday; goals from Amario Cozier-Duberry and Owen Beck seal a sixth straight win for John Eustace's side

Saturday 14 December 2024 18:39, UK

Promotion-chasing Blackburn extended their winning streak to six matches with a 2-0 Championship victory over 10-man Luton.

The damage was done in the first half and it was a game of firsts for the division's in-form side.

On-loan Amario Cozier-Duberry marked his full Blackburn debut with a first senior goal after 32 minutes and fellow full-back loanee Owen Beck calmly added his first Rovers strike eight minutes later.

Luton were brilliantly denied by Aynsley Pears either side of the goals and although Carlton Morris went close twice after the restart, their hopes were dashed when Liam Walsh was dismissed for a poor tackle, 17 minutes from time.

Rovers have now won more times at Ewood Park than they did in the entirety of last season and they are five points off second place, with a game in hand.

Defeat continues Luton's atrocious away form which now reads seven consecutive defeats.

The hosts made the early running with a Cozier-Duberry effort deflected wide before Yuki Ohashi's header landed on the roof of the net.

Luton settled into the game but were undone in the 33rd minute by a moment of magic from Cozier-Duberry.

The teenager was engineered space just inside the area - despite heavy attention from the Town defence - before rifling a fine low drive into the bottom-right corner.

The visitors responded positively and only a tremendous double intervention from Pears denied them as he produced a sprawling save to thwart Elijah Adebayo from the edge of the area and then parried Tahith Chong's rebound.

They paid a heavy price for the profligacy as Rovers doubled their advantage after 40 minutes.

Ohashi was released on the right and crossed to seemingly give Makhtar Gueye a tap-in but although he miskicked, the ball fell invitingly for Beck to confidently stroke beyond Luton goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski.

The away side needed a quick start to the second half and almost found it when a deep cross found Morris but his looping header was cleared off the line by Danny Batth.

Gueye was a whisker away from finishing the game with a rasping first-time drive that flew just wide of the upright.

Morris was agonisingly close to pulling one back, just past the hour, when he responded to his own headed knockdown and swivelled to half-volley the ball inches past the post.

Any hopes of a comeback were effectively ended when Walsh was shown a straight red card, 11 minutes after his introduction from the bench after a reckless tackle on Ohashi.

The mood in the Luton camp was apparent with the reaction of Morris who was furious with his team-mate.

Kaminski produced a superb injury-time save from Harry Leonard to keep the score respectable.

The managers

Blackburn's John Eustace:

"I thought [Amario Cozier-Duberry] was outstanding. It was a brilliant performance from the young lad. He's been training very well.

"He was close to starting probably four to five weeks ago before he got injured and today that first half, I thought he was virtually unplayable and I was pleased that he scored a great goal.

"What is the most pleasing thing for me is he's an exciting player with the ball but he doesn't half work hard without the ball as well. That's something we have to have in this football team.

"We have Toddy Cantwell doing the same. Toddy's an excellent player with the ball but he's doing the work without the ball as well.

"Every flair player, every quality player we have in this group has got to be hungry and have that desire to get back and work hard for each other and he's got that. It was an awesome performance for his first start."

Luton's Rob Edwards:

"Away from home, we quietened the crowd. They got a bit more of the ball but did not create too much.

"We showed threat, had a couple of set-pieces, we were fine, in the game. Then one missed clearance in the build up to the first goal. The ball down the side - whether we need to put it out or not, I don't know.

"We don't deal with the throw-in, a missed tackle. Loads of bodies around in the box, we don't deal with Cozier-Duberry, and it's in the back of the net. Really poor defending of the box.

"(We had a) decent reaction after the first goal, when we go on the front foot again and then another ball down the side that we don't play offside, or certainly not in that moment, we haven't matched the run, so an easy ball down the side.

"It's almost a gift and at 2-0, it's a huge uphill task for us."