Luton Town vs Queens Park Rangers. Sky Bet Championship.
Kenilworth RoadAttendance10,011.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Luton Town and Queens Park Rangers at Kenilworth Road as Elijah Adebayo, a Jimmy Dunne own goal and Luke Freeman steered the Hatters to victory.
Saturday 15 October 2022 17:15, UK
Luton ended their long wait for a victory over QPR as they halted the visitors' five-game unbeaten run with a 3-1 win at Kenilworth Road.
The Hatters had not won any of their six meetings against their west London opponents since returning to the Championship, their last league success coming back in January 2006, but that was to change after a fine performance from Nathan Jones' side.
The hosts had the first real attempt, James Bree teed up by Henri Lansbury just outside the box, only to slice wide.
Luton then took the lead on 19 minutes when Elijah Adebayo's cross was just over the head of Allan Campbell, Carlton Morris picking up the loose ball and finding the stooping Adebayo to head over the line from a yard out.
Hunting for a second, Luton went close when Henri Lansbury got his volley all wrong on the angle, slicing off target, before they almost doubled their lead from a set-piece on 38 minutes.
First, Bree's low ball was met by Morris, his shot well cleared by a covering Rangers defender, before Bree picked out Adebayo, who was desperately unfortunate to see his towering header strike the inside of the post and bounce out.
Just before the break, Ilias Chair sized up a 25-yard free-kick, shooting straight at Ethan Horvath who gathered with ease.
In the second period, Morris' backheel sent Adebayo away but his shot was blocked by a covering defender.
Rangers attempted to find a way back into the contest, with Jimmy Dunne taking aim from the edge of the box but he could not keep his shot down.
Tyler Roberts then tried his luck from distance, his daisy-cutter inches the wrong side of the post.
Luton boss Jones rang the changes midway through the half, Harry Cornick, Cameron Jerome and ex-QPR midfielder Luke Freeman on as Town looked to try and get a foothold on proceedings once more.
Jake Clarke-Salter then crashed against the bar from eight yards out, his follow up claimed by the diving Horvath.
Jones' changes came up trumps with 13 minutes to go, Jerome robbing Rob Dickie of the ball and, when Seny Dieng came rushing out, the keeper could only send his clearance against Dunne, the rebound bouncing over the line.
Taylor Richards' low 20-yarder was then gathered by Horvath, although as the game entered stoppage time Rangers had one back, the ball bouncing in off keeper Horvath.
Just when it looked like the nerves were going to jangle, Luton had a third, with Cornick picking out Freeman to tap home and seal victory.
Luton's Nathan Jones: "First half we were really aggressive, we hit the bar, had a load of good situations and with a little bit more composure and quality, we could have gone in a bit further up. But we know these are a tough side to play against, they really are. They came out, they had a bit of play, I still think we had the best chances, because we had one cleared off the line and even when they did score it was an element of fortune to it in terms of we should have cleared, but overall, a wonderful, wonderful performance.
"You know you've got to play well as QPR are a good side, Mick's doing a great job there and they have tricky players, players who can hurt you. But I thought today we defended well and were magnificent."
QPR's Michael Beale: "It was a really bad afternoon. I thought Carlton Morris in particular first half was very good, we didn't get to grips with him. We spoke in the week about how the game would look, so we were very clear what was coming, but I thought their two centre-forwards gave my two centre-halves some issues. We went with Leon Balogun at right-back, he goes and gets injured in the very first challenge of the game.
"The start of the second half, we reacted well to the conversation we had, we just changed to a back three and we were the team in the ascendancy. We hit the bar and I suppose for me that's what the game hinges on, as straight after we go and make a mistake and lose Jimmy in that one bit of play. But I'm not going to sit here and bash my players, I'm just going to look for the response on Wednesday evening."
