Report | Swansea City 2 Luton Town 1
Myles Peart-Harris struck a dramatic stoppage-time winner as Swansea City came from behind to beat 10-man Luton Town at the Swansea.com Stadium.
The visitors had taken an early lead through captain Carlton Morris as he fired home after picking off a loose pass on the edge of the Swansea area.
Gonçalo Franco had the host level when he finished from close range late in the first half, and the Swans had numerous other chances even before the Hatters had Joe Johnson sent off for a second booking after the break.
Jisung Eom struck the woodwork, Ronald and Harry Darling forced good saves from Thomas Kaminski, and there were also two penalty appeals waved away.
But their perseverance paid off when substitute Peart-Harris arrived at the far post to head home the winner and spark delighted celebrations in SA1.
As had been the case on Boxing Day, Luke Williams’ side absolutely dominated possession, territory and attempts on goal, but they had looked set to be left frustrated by stubborn, dogged opponents until the dramatic denouement.
It marked the first time the Swans had come from behind to win a game since a victory at Plymouth Argyle in October 2023, while it was the first time they had done so at home since the final day of the 2022-23 season against West Bromwich Albion.
The Swans had been unchanged from their handsome Boxing Day victory over Queens Park Rangers, while the visitors made two changes from defeat at Bristol City as Amari’i Bell and Marvelous Nakamba came in for Victor Moses and Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu.
Williams had challenged his team to back up their super showing against Queens Park Rangers on Boxing Day and they initially started brightly.
But they fell behind when Lawrence Vigouroux’s pass was hit straight at Morris, and the striker was able to control and volley home from close range.
Ben Cabango nodded a Jisung Eom free-kick high and wide before Luton keeper Thomas Kaminski got away with an error of his own as he dropped a Matt Grimes cross at the feet of Eom, but the Korean could only hit the post and the ball rolled straight back into the Belgian’s gloves.
Swansea produced the best move of the game yet 20 minutes in, moving the ball from Vigouroux, through Josh Tymon, Grimes and Josh Key to send Ronald into the area.
The Brazilian’s cross was a good one, and Luton needed Mark McGuinness to scramble clear with white shirts waiting.
Referee Farai Hallam then waved away penalty appeals when Tahith Chong clipped Eom after sliding in to steer Darling’s through ball back to his keeper.
Darling was then unable to turn in Liam Cullen’s knockdown after a Grimes shot had been blocked and the ball thrown high into the air in the Luton area.
A better chance arrived a few minutes later when good pressing saw Swansea steal the ball and Cullen feed a rampaging Ronald, but the Brazilian’s shot was saved by the fingertips of Kaminski.
But the equaliser finally came eight minutes before the break, and Franco was the man in the right place at the right time.
Cabango, Cullen and Ronald had been denied by a mixture of blocks and a fantastic Kaminski save from an Eom corner, and the Portuguese midfielder was on hand to bundle home from the fourth effort of the goalmouth scramble.
It was no less than the Swans deserved and they went into the interval on level terms.
They remained dominant into the second half, and again had shouts for a penalty turned down when Bianchini brought down a Key cross in the area and looked to be impeded by Tom Holmes.
The Swans also lost goalscorer Franco to injury after he was caught, accidentally it appeared, by McGuinness’ arm as he rushed to press the Luton centre-half, who was receiving a pass facing his own goal. Jay Fulton was his replacement.
The disjointed period helped Luton have a better period and Swansea got away with an error when Marvelous Nakamba got onto a loose touch by Cabango. He found Elijah Adebayo but his shot was blocked.
Swansea regrouped, and Darling should have done better when sending an unmarked header too close to Kaminski from a pinpoint Grimes delivery.
Luton’s cause suffered a blow with 22 minutes to play when Johnson was dismissed for a second booking after bringing down Eom, his earlier caution having come for a late tackle on Ronald.
The visitors dropped deep and the Swans piled on the pressure, Cullen sending a low strike into Kaminski’s gloves and another wide of the target in the closing stages.
Into seven minutes of stoppage time and still Swansea p[ressed.
And finally the pressure paid as Darling nodded a Grimes cross back over the face of goal, and Peart-Harris arrived at the far post to head home.
Swansea City: Lawrence Vigouroux; Josh Key, Ben Cabango, Harry Darling, Josh Tymon; Matt Grimes (captain), Gonçalo Franco (Jay Fulton 54), Liam Cullen; Ronald (Azeem Abdulai 90), Jisung Eom (Myles Peart-Harris 77); Florian Bianchini (Žan Vipotnik 77).
Unused Substitutes: Jon McLaughlin, Nathan Tjoe-A-On, Cyrus Christie, Kyle Naughton, Ben Lloyd.
Luton Town: Thomas Kaminski, Amari'i Bell, Mark McGuinness, Tom Krauss )Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu 84), Carlton Morris (captain), Elijah Adebayo (Reuell Walters 71), Marvelous Nakamba (Zack Nelson 65), Tahith Chong, Jordan Clark, Tom Holmes, Joe Johnson.
Unused Substitutes: Tim Krul, Victor Moses, Cauley Woodrow, Erik Pieters, Joe Taylor, Daiki Hashioka.
Referee: Farai Hallam
Attendance: 16,414