Elijah Adebayo’s 90th-minute winner helped Luton return to winning ways with a 2-1 Championship victory over Stoke at Kenilworth Road.
Tom Cannon’s early strike mounted more pressure on underfire Hatters boss Rob Edwards, whose side ended a three-game winless streak thanks to goals from Carlton Morris and Adebayo.
Luton now sit on 22 points, five above the relegation zone, with Stoke in 16th.
Stoke played with intent in the early stages as they looked to land the first blow, and they did just that in the sixth minute through Cannon.
Million Manhoef received the ball in midfield and showed great quality to control, spin and perform a threaded pass to set Cannon through on goal.
The forward held his nerve to drill his effort past Thomas Kaminski.
The Hatters needed a response to silence the jeers around the ground and, after Adebayo’s left-footed strike from inside the area was kept out by keeper Viktor Johansson, captain Morris showed responsibility to nod a corner home from close range.
Luton continued their attacking promise after the break but lacked cutting edge as they allowed Stoke to create chances of their own.
Manhoef was in the thick of the action for the visitors but the forward failed to add to his side’s tally with a series of poor attempts.
After an initial one-versus-one from inside the area was skied over the crossbar in the 65th minute, Manhoef sliced a similar effort moments later before Kaminski went on to deny him with a simple save from a shot.
Poor finishing was a common theme on the night as Jordan Clark produced a scuffed shot into the stands.
This was summed up best after 77 minutes when Morris squandered the chance of the half. A neat pass by Victor Moses to the overlapping Tom Krauss then saw an inch-perfect cross into the area hit wide by Morris from six yards.
But Luton’s blushes were saved in the 90th minute when Adebayo deflected a scuffed shot past Johansson and into the goal.
The managers
Luton’s Rob Edwards:
“We had more of a purpose, you can see they’re trying to take on and make an overlap, we got more numbers in the box, they’re trying to do the right things.
“We created good chances and should have scored more than two but it was enough for us, they were brave, they didn’t go under at 1-0 and showed good character which we struggled with at times this year, it was pleasing.
“One of the messages at half-time was quality in the box could have been better, but it was a brilliant cross and a well-timed header and that was a fantastic equaliser, we know we’re a threat from set-pieces.
“It was finely balanced, we had more of a threat, there was a danger there for them as well, there’s a good buzz in the changing room.”
Stoke’s Narcis Pelach:
“What I tried to do is not let them control what they want to do and be competitive with second balls, we wanted to keep the ball on the ground and play our game.
“The dressing room is disappointed, we defended a lot and were more aggressive than the previous games. We find ourselves in this bad run, it’s six without a win but we’re a young side, we have exciting players and I’m sure we’ll have a good run soon.”
