Hull City vs Luton Town. Sky Bet Championship.
MKM StadiumAttendance16,555.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Hull City and Luton Town at the MKM Stadium as goals from Elijah Adebayo, Harry Cornick and James Bree helped Nathan Jones' Hatters up to third
Saturday 19 March 2022 18:11, UK
Depleted Luton moved up to third in the Sky Bet Championship with a disciplined 3-1 victory at Hull.
Despite being without their core defensive line through injury, Nathan Jones's side produced an exemplary performance.
Elijah Adebayo opened the scoring after nine minutes - a just reward for an intense start to the game.
Harry Cornick added a second on 56 minutes, with Luton's authority underscored by James Bree's smart free-kick later in the second half.
Hull have been impressive away from home under new manager Shota Arveladze but they have now lost five games on the bounce at the MKM Stadium.
And though Tom Eaves scored a consolation with the last kick of the game, the hosts deserved nothing as Luton were more streetwise in possession and far sharper inside the final third.
Jones had compared Luton's treatment room to the Bermuda Triangle - in that "anyone who goes in there doesn't come out" - but his players looked very much at home in east Yorkshire.
Luton clearly had a plan to intensely pressure the right of Hull's defence from the outset.
It was as swift as it was effective, too, with Cornick a persistent threat during a one-sided start to the game.
Few inside the MKM Stadium could have been too surprised, then, when Adebayo opened the scoring.
He was allowed too much space to charge into the penalty box from the right and Hull's defence stood off the in-form striker, who had time and space in a dangerous area.
Matt Ingram might, however, have done better as Adebayo's left-footed hit went through the goalkeeper.
Luton's opening goal failed to shift the flow of momentum of the first half.
Ingram did well to tip over Luke Berry's powerful attempt from distance on 21 minutes as Jones' men remained a constant threat on the break.
Hull had their moments thereafter, but Luton goalkeeper James Shea never once had to break sweat.
And once Cornick doubled Town's lead, firing in from Adebayo's pass, even the most optimistic of Hull fans must have expected the worst.
Keen admirers of Luton this season have been particularly impressed by their energy and vigour.
This was further highlighted after 72 minutes when, following a sustained spell of pressure, Bree scored a well-taken free-kick with a fierce swing that crashed in off the post.
Eaves was Hull's best player and deserved to score with a tap-in deep into injury-time, but it failed to conceal the Tigers' flaws on home soil as Luton cruised to victory.
Hull's Shota Arveladze:"It's difficult to explain. Football can be really unfair. I still believe we didn't really deserve to concede three goals. We could have stayed in the game, but, unfortunately, it happens. We made mistakes and that is the difference at home and away - and we need to be better. When players make mistakes, they will learn from the them all the time. But the more (mistakes they make) the less points we have.
"I said thank you to the boys (after the game). It was the end of a hard week and we were against a stronger opponent. We make more mistakes at home than away. It's as simple as that. I don't want to blame anyone. I don't think it's about away or home - it's just about football. Our supporters are unbelievable and they stayed with us until the last whistle. We have a lot of small injuries, but we disappointed them at home again and we will try to win them back.
Luton's Nathan Jones: "To come away from home and put in such an emphatic performance was great. We took the lead early on and never looked back. We defended our box really well, scored a few good goals and could have scored more. The only tinge of disappointment is conceding that late goal. It (automatic promotion) is not dreaming - we know what we can achieve. We've got the resources to be in the bottom three but we don't work with resources.
"We're a good side that works hard. Bournemouth are a wonderful side. Fulham are a wonderful side. If we're anywhere near them two at the end of the season we'll be in a wonderful position. If we end up in the Premier League, that will be brilliant - we've got momentum. I'm not getting sacked if we lose the next eight games, but we're in a great position.
"The Championship is such a difficult league but we've got to make sure we keep sticking to what we do. There's eight games to go and anything can happen.We've got six centre-halves out right now. No side in the world can maintain the levels like that so we need the break to try to get players back. We'll come back after the break ready for a real big spell."
