Luton Town players were shocked that even ’10-man’ Tottenham couldn’t beat them.
Tottenham defeated Luton Town 1-0 in the eighth round of the 2023-24 Premier League (PL) on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET at Kenilworth Road Stadium in Luton, England. With the win, Tottenham moved into first place in the league with six wins and two draws (20 points).
Given their recent form, Tottenham were expected to dominate Luton. James Maddison and Son Heung-min were both back from injury, so they started without any problems. Spurs dominated possession, holding an 80:20 advantage, but were unable to capitalize as their finishing proved problematic. Yves Bissouma’s sending off just before half-time made things difficult for Spurs.
Luton started to look more and more aggressive against the ’10-man’ Spurs, but their finishing held them back. Defense was also an issue. A momentary lapse in set-piece concentration in the sixth minute of the second half led to the opening goal through Micky van der Penne.
In the end, Luton couldn’t get a point against 10-man Tottenham. Even in their first season of PL promotion, Luton’s players seemed frustrated that they couldn’t get a win against 10 men. After the game, Luton winger Chiedozie Ogbenee said, “We were devastated. We lost to Tottenham, who are playing well. Still, we were shocked that we couldn’t capitalize on the team playing with 10 men,” he said, noting that the team’s mood was very low.
“We started strong, but I think we lacked concentration, and we need to look at (the game). We’re feeling frustrated, but we also feel like we need to capitalize on our chances. We created a lot of chances today.”
As Ogbonna says, Luton didn’t play badly. Their problem was their 토토 finishing. Despite creating numerous scoring chances, they failed to score a single goal. When they did get a shot off, it was usually on a trajectory that Guglielmo Vicario could only parry.
“The coach said we have to be cool in the PL. An early goal is very important. You saw the importance of it today. You have to score when you get the chance and we paid the price for not doing that,” he said, noting the need for improved finishing.