Luton Town vs Sunderland – Championship play-off semi second leg – Live blog
Good evening and welcome to Overtime Online’s live coverage of Luton Town vs Sunderland in the second leg of the Championship play-offs as the sides meet here at Kenilworth Road.
I’m Will Murray and I will be taking you through tonight’s big clash where 90 minutes separate both sides from a spot at Wembley.
Sunderland won the first-leg 2-1 at the Stadium of Light thanks to goals from Amad Diallo and Trai Hume.
Here is the team news:
Saturday’s 2-1 loss was Luton’s first in 14 games and the Hatters will be looking to end their torrid run in the EFL play-offs where they have never won a game. In three play-off campaigns in 1997, 2017 and 2022 Luton are winless.
This means that midfielders Luke O’Nien and Patrick Roberts are forced to play in a back four. Given the lack of defenders and height of the Luton frontline, expect Luton to be a danger from set-pieces.
Sunderland are unbeaten in ten games and have the fourth best away record in the Championship this season.
FIRST HALF:
MIN 1 – We’re underway here at Kenilworth Road.
MIN 3 – Luton are testing that makeshift Sunderland backline with a flurry of long-balls towards Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo in the early stages.
MIN 5 – Tackles are flying in the early stages and the referee waves away a potential penalty as Amad Diallo skips past Marvelous Nakamba in the box.
MIN 6 – Alex Pritchard’s free-kick from 30 yards goes well over Ethan Horvath’s bar.
MIN 8 – A foul by Diallo on Gabe Osho results in an altercation off the ball between the Sunderland forward and Luton defender Tom Lockyer.
MIN 10 – GOALLL FOR LUTON TOWN – GABE OSHO
LUTON TOWN 1-0 SUNDERLAND (2-2 Aggregate) – Gabe Osho gets on the end of a loose ball from a corner and stabs the ball past Anthony Patterson.
MIN 13 – Sunderland HIT THE POST as Adebayo heads the ball against his own post. The referee then waves away a potential penalty as Pierre Ekwah’s shot hits the hand of Omari Bell. Close call for the Hatters!
MIN 18 – Jordan Clark is in the book after a late challenge on Lynden Gooch.
MIN 22 – MORRIS’ HEADER IS CLEARED OFF THE LINE BY LUKE O’NIEN. Patterson fumbles a high cross and Morris’ header was stopped in the nick of time by the Sunderland defender.
MIN 23 – Sunderland need to stop crosses going into the box. They are struggling against Luton’s tall forward pairing.
MIN 30 – Sunderland are enjoying long spells of possession but are struggling to penetrate this deep lying Luton defence.
MIN 31 – CLOSE FOR LUTON. Patterson makes a huge save as Morris gets on the end of another free-kick but Patterson saves the ball low to his right and keeps the tie level. Luton are looking dangerous here…
MIN 36 – Luton continue to dominate but have been unable to create anything clear cut in the last five minutes. They will feel slightly aggrieved if its only 1-0 at the break, given the pattern of the game.
MIN 43 – GOALL FOR LUTON TOWN – TOM LOCKYER
LUTON TOWN 2-0 SUNDERLAND (3-2 Aggregate) – Lockyer gets on the end of Alfie Doughty’s cross and the Hatters are ahead in the tie. That’s more than they deserve after this first-half display.
HALF TIME – LUTON TOWN 2-0 SUNDERLAND (3-2 Aggregate)
Luton are well in the ascendency here. Set pieces have been their main weapon against Sunderland’s defence with two centre-backs scoring the goals.
We’ll be back after the break…
SECOND HALF:
MIN 46: WHAT A CHANCE FOR MORRIS. A misplaced pass from goalkeeper Patterson sees Morris one on one with the keeper but Morris smashes the ball well over the bar.
MIN 51: End to end stuff here as Sunderland look to get back into the game. They are still struggling to create any real chances to trouble this Luton defence.
MIN 55: Luton are pressing high and aggressively as Sunderland look to play out from the back. Cody Drameh has just forced a corner in front of this raucous home crowd.
MIN 56: Adebayo heads over the corner. Luton continue to dominate from every set piece they get.
MIN 57: Aji Alese comes on the pitch for Pritchard as Sunderland look for a goal to level the tie.
MIN 62: Adebayo’s header is cleared off the line from ANOTHER corner. Sunderland are living dangerously here…
MIN 64: Eduoard Michut comes on for Gelhardt. The tie is slowly drifting away from Tony Mowbray’s Sunderland team.
MIN 71: Luton continue to press well as Sunderland struggle to build any momentum. Not long to go now for the Black Cats to keep their season alive.
MIN 75: Free kick for Sunderland after a foul on Clarke. Sunderland are keeping a lot of possession and are looking for an opening somehow.
MIN 77: Roberts gets the ball in space on the right-hand side but shoots well over the bar.
MIN 78: Niall Huggins and Abdoullah Ba come on for Gooch and Daniel Neil respectively.
MIN 83: Allan Campbell replaces Clark with Luton only seven minutes away from a place at Wembley.
MIN 87: Sunderland have only registered one shot on target in this game and look like they are running out of ideas…
MIN 90: Roberts finds himself in space, but his shot goes well over. There will be four minutes of added time.
MIN 90+3: LUTON MISS A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY. Patterson goes forward for a corner and the ball is cleared to Drameh who is set free with three Luton players to his left. The young right-back chooses to go for the empty net and his shot goes narrowly wide of the target.
THAT’S IT! LUTON ARE IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF FINAL. They are one win away from their first appearance in the Premier League.
Luton will now play the winner of Middlesbrough or Coventry in the final, which takes place on May 27.
