Luton 1-1 Plymouth: Maksym Talovierov scores as Argyle earn draw in bottom of table Championship clash

Relegation rivals Luton and Plymouth played out a low quality 1-1 draw at Kenilworth Road that did neither side any real good in their efforts to avoid dropping out of the Championship.

Jacob Brown gave bottom side Luton a 55th-minute lead but Maksym Talovierov equalised as both teams remained in the relegation zone.

Hatters manager Matt Bloomfield is still searching for a first victory since replacing Rob Edwards as their miserable winless run extended to 11 matches.

Bloomfield's men sit two points from safety, with Argyle one point better off with both teams having 13 games to play.

The hosts should have led inside three minutes as Alfie Doughty's inch-perfect cross was met by January transfer window addition Lasse Nordas but the Norwegian forward, on his first start, headed over from a few yards out.

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Nordas had another crack in the 14th minute after Mark McGuinness's long throw dropped at his feet, only to see it deflect over the crossbar.

Plymouth thought they had scored in the 33rd minute when Callum Wright reached Tymoteusz Puchacz's pass ahead of the hesitant Thomas Kaminski to find the net, but the linesman's flag was quickly raised to cut short the celebrations. Replays suggested he may have been level, giving the hosts a major let off.

The Hatters responded with another effort from Nordas who attempted an ambitious 20-yard volley from Kal Naismith's long ball, but he skewed wide of the target.

The start of the second period saw Luton go close early on once more when Izzy Jones' cross was not cleared properly by Nikola Katic as Elijah Adebayo read the flight of the ball but could only power his volley over the top.

With the forward then taken off, his replacement Brown broke the deadlock with his first touch.

Doughty's cross into the box was nodded down by Nordas for the substitute to beat Hazard to the ball and angle his header into the net, ending Luton's run of four-and-a-half games without a home goal.

Town's lead did not last though as Argyle were level within 15 minutes. With McGuinness off the pitch to receive treatment, the visitors took full advantage by sending in a deep cross that saw towering centre-back Talovierov rise highest and place his downward header inside the far post.

Town should have been back in front quickly as Shandon Baptiste's shot deflected away and then Brown somehow put a free header straight at Hazard from Doughty's cross from a few yards out.

Although eight minutes of stoppage time were added, Luton could not fashion the winner they were desperate for, with substitute Millenic Alli putting his backheel over the bar from a last-gasp corner.

The managers

Luton's Matt Bloomfield:

"We wanted three points, we wanted to win the game. I thought we did enough to win the game and we're really frustrated not to have done so with the amount of opportunities we created.

"We limited our opposition to very little, but we didn't do the two boxes good enough to win the game ultimately and we're really frustrated about that.

"We're disappointed, the players are disappointed, but they've put everything out on the pitch and I don't think we can argue against that.

"We'll pick the bones out of it like we always do and use the negatives for moving forward and look to use the negatives for the things that we need to improve on as there's lots of work still to do and we aim to do that."

Plymouth's Miron Muslic:

"It was a very vertical, very direct football game. The atmosphere was amazing. Beautiful.

"Luton were very physical, very direct. I think we had to defend one thousand long balls, throw-ins, tried to occupy their set-pieces in our box and we did it well defensively.

"We didn't allow them a lot of chances in open play, the set-pieces, free-kicks, this you can't defend all the time and this goal we conceded was just a miscommunication from the centre-backs as maybe the reason was because a new player entered the game and they didn't really realise who was in charge.

"I think bouncing back is super difficult, especially knowing it's Luton. We know their ranking, know their situation, but bouncing back is a new mentality we have.

"We bounced back against Sunderland and bounced back against West Brom and also tonight, so OK I'm happy with the point.

"It was not easy and this will be a massive point if we can perform again on Saturday against Cardiff."

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