Substitute Ibrahim Cissoko scored twice as Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth claimed a 3-1 win over Luton in their Championship clash at Home Park.
The on-loan Netherlands Under-21 winger added to Rami Al Hajj’s fine early opener by finishing off a superb counter-attack in the 69th minute, 11 minutes after coming on.
Victor Moses pulled one back two minutes later, but Cissoko sealed the points for the hosts with a brilliant individual third in added time.
Swedish playmaker Al Hajj marked his first start for Plymouth with the opening goal in the eighth minute from Argyle’s first meaningful attack.
The 23-year-old Lebanon-born midfielder finished first time from Ryan Hardie’s cross, his effort into the top corner giving goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski no chance.
Argyle should have gone two up in the 12th minute after another flowing move, but Michael Obafemi thumped his shot wide from inside the area from Morgan Whittaker’s cross from the right.
Hardie then should have done better when he cut in from the right but shot well wide.
Rami Al Hajj (right) celebrates after scoring for Plymouth
El Hajj, who was having a memorable evening, teed up Whittaker, whose shot from the edge of the box drifted wide. A minute later El Hajj was on hand to divert Darko Gyabi’s shot from an Adam Randell corner, forcing a magnificent one-handed diving save from Kaminski.
The closest the Hatters came to levelling was when Elijah Adebayo headed just over from Alfie Doughty’s 37th-minute free-kick.
Doughty was on hand to clear when Kaminski made a superb save to keep out Joe Edwards’ first-time shot from Bali Mumba’s cross.
Argyle keeper Dan Grimshaw had to be on his toes to keep out Doughty’s inswinging 54th-minute corner, which looked set to creep in at the near post.
McGuinness headed just over from another pinpoint Doughty delivery before Adebayo forced Grimshaw to save low at his near post.
But Plymouth got their second when on-loan Leeds midfielder Gyabi broke from his own half, putting Luton’s defenders on the back foot before releasing Cissoko on the right. Cissoko cut inside before sending a shot beyond the reach of Kaminski and into the far corner.
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Ibrahim Cissoko finishes a fantastic break from the home side to double their advantage after coming off the subs bench
Luton responded in the next attack as Doughty crossed for substitute Moses to score.
Randell then saw a 25-yard effort crash off the crossbar before Cissoko wrapped up the points in style. The 21-year-old cut into the area from the left, skipping between two defenders, and, although his first effort was blocked, he seized on the loose ball to fire home at the second attempt.
The managers
Plymouth’s Wayne Rooney told Sky Sports:
“We were underestimated at the start of the season before we kicked a ball and then especially after the first game. But I think we’ve shown real character, we’ve shown the type of team we want to be, we’re getting the ball forward and creating chances.
“It’s a big win for us tonight against a good Luton team. It’s a big win for a lot of our young players. I was delighted for the lads tonight, delighted for the fans – great atmosphere again, so a great start to the weekend.”
On Ibrahim Cissoko: “He’s a fantastic player and he showed his ability tonight when he came on. It wasn’t so easy telling him he wasn’t playing.
“I felt late on in the game, I said to him yesterday, ‘Just trust in me, you’re going to come on and win us the game’. It’s always great as a manager when that happens and it shows to be true.”
Luton’s Rob Edwards told Sky Sports:
“At both ends of the pitch we weren’t good enough – they defended very well and we didn’t. Credit to them for defending well and being ruthless and we weren’t.
“I won’t make excuses and losing three players in the game doesn’t help but it’s not why we lost. It’s disappointing to lose any game, I feel for our fans who travelled all this way because they’re desperate for us to do well but we have to dust ourselves down and get ready for Tuesday.”
