Luton Town vs Coventry City. Sky Bet Championship.
Kenilworth Road.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Luton Town and Coventry at Kenilworth Road as James Bree and Elijah Adebayo's penalty steered the Hatters past 10-man Coventry; Kyle McFadzean sent off for Sky Blues.
Tuesday 16 March 2021 22:12, UK
Luton eased to victory over 10-man Coventry at Kenilworth Road to leave the visitors mired in the Sky Bet Championship relegation fight.
A first senior goal for former Aston Villa full-back James Bree set the hosts on their way, with the 2-0 result secured as Elijah Adebayo converted a penalty after Kyle McFadzean had been sent off for handball.
An early free-kick caused havoc in the Coventry box and, following a goalmouth scramble, two attempted clearances from the visitors struck the woodwork before being hacked clear.
Just moments later and Coventry hit the post at the right end, Maxime Biamou bursting clear and firing past the onrushing Simon Sluga, only to hit the foot of the post.
Biamou then missed the target by some distance when he was again found free of any Luton attention on the edge of the box.
Luton took the lead at the midway point of the first half through an unlikely source, Bree's low strike beating Ben Wilson after he had been picked out by Harry Cornick.
Coventry's evening went from bad to worse as McFadzean was sent off four minutes before the interval.
The defender clearly blocked Cornick's goalbound shot on the line and was dismissed by referee Stephen Martin, with Adebayo slamming home the resulting penalty.
Despite being a man down, Coventry started the second half well, Callum O'Hare seeing a shot blocked as they looked to half the deficit.
Luton made their numerical advantage count as they took control of the game, with Coventry again hitting the frame of their own goal before Ryan Tunnicliffe's effort was cleared off the line.
Tunnicliffe should have then done better but lost his composure and fired over when well-placed after Jordan Clark had been denied.
The points were in the bag but Luton boss Nathan Jones would have been upset that his side failed to add to their lead in the second half.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was guilty of a bad miss in the closing stages before Sam Nombe's shot was saved with the last kick of the ball.
The result leaves Luton in touch with the top-half of the table, while Coventry remain two places and six points clear of the relegation zone - although Rotherham have three games in hand in 22nd spot.
Luton's Nathan Jones: "It was really important we won the game today. We have had back-to-back defeats albeit against the top two. We were clinical in terms of what we did and we should have scored more. We were pretty dominant really and we should have had far, far more. It should have been three or four, that is probably the only negative to come out of the game, that we weren't a bit more clinical.
"We are evolving at this level, we created 20 shots tonight and had seven on target and again we should have had more. But I am pleased with the win and the reaction we got, we don't go three, four or five on the spin without winning and that is a good thing."
Coventry's Mark Robins: "Having seen it, Kyle was adamant it wasn't handball and it looks like (it hit) his shoulder,. From the referee's perspective in real time the body movement might have made it look like he handballed it but the referee was guessing on a few things and that is disappointing because it has cost us, really
"I think it is worth an appeal. Everyone here is saying it hit his shoulder and clearly on the video it looks like it hit his shoulder. I think it is well worth an appeal, it is definitely not a frivolous thing."
