A tremendous, historic day for Luton was epitomized by wild celebrations in one little part of an otherwise abandoned Goodison Park. They had a top-flight victory to celebrate after inflicting new pain on hapless Everton for the first time since April 1992, when Brian Stein and Mark Pembridge scored in a 2-0 win over Aston Villa. And they relished it.
“It’s an amazing day for the supporters, they deserve it, and the board deserves it too,” said Rob Edwards, Luton Town manager, after Tom Lockyer and Carlton Morris scored from Alfie Doughty set-pieces to give the club its first Premier League victory.
“They’ve really stuck with us and I know they will because we’ve been on a brilliant journey, but it’s important we give them something to shout about as well. I know it’s a big moment, and I don’t want this to sound arrogant, but I really fancied us today. I really believed we could cause them problems and win the game.”
Everton’s home form and Sean Dyche’s tactics were both slammed by Edwards’ deserved confidence. For the first time since 1958-59, his club lost a fourth consecutive home league game from the start of the season. 777 Partners, Everton’s probable new owners, were there, including co-founders Josh Wander and Steven Pasko, as well as CEO Don Dransfield. They have been making the rounds this week, attempting to reassure supporters and lawmakers about their future plans for Everton. That will be difficult given that another of 777’s clubs, Vasco da Gama, received a Fifa transfer embargo on Friday for late payments on three transfer agreements.
Two encouraging away wins in five days suggested Everton had turned a corner. But they immediately reverted to type on home soil, missing several chances and compounding their problems at one end of the pitch with poor defending at the other. Dyche’s description of a dominant display with countless opportunities going astray, however, was a gross exaggeration. His team ran out of ideas quickly and rarely threatened Thomas Kaminski’s goal in the second half, even after Luton lost the defenders Lockyer and Reece Burke to injury.
Everton were warned multiple times about Doughty’s set-pieces before Morris headed his corner against the crossbar. Ashley Young took too long to clear the rebound, and Lockyer, sensing an opening, jumped in front of the veteran’s clearance to divert home.
Luton were dreaming when they doubled their lead shortly later. This time, a Doughty free-kick combined with Everton leaving a large, lone centre-forward with a number nine on his back unmarked at the back post did the damage. Morris guided a beautiful finish into the far corner after slipping away from Vitaliy Mykolenko unnoticed.
By scrambling in his third goal in three games, Dominic Calvert-Lewin saved Everton from becoming the first team in top-flight history to lose their first four home games without scoring. A lengthy VAR check for offside against Amadou Onana and Calvert-Lewin was deemed in Everton’s favor, giving the struggling hosts a lifeline. They lacked the poise and quality required to capitalize.
Dyche brought on Jack Harrison, Beto, and Arnaut Danjuma in a desperate and frantic search for an equalizer. A number of wayward long balls made things simple for the promoted visitors, who held Everton at bay comfortably in a second half that featured seven minutes of stoppage time.
On the counterattack, Luton appeared the more threatening team, and Morris was denied his second and the club’s third goal when he applied the finishing touch to an offside Jacob Brown header.
“We had a brilliant chance today to change the story of the last two years, and we didn’t do it,” Dyche lamented. “We’re attempting to instill in the team a constant state of alertness. We simply took two steps ahead and then took two steps back. It’s driving me insane.”
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