Swansea City 0-1 Luton Town: Collins strikes to take visitors of the bottom
- Published
Tempers flare at Liberty Stadium, leading to the hosts' Jordon Garrick being sent off
Luton Town climbed off the bottom of the Championship with a well-earned win at Swansea City, boosting their own survival hopes and damaging the Welsh club's hopes of reaching the play-offs.
The visitors edged a lethargic first half with Harry Cornick closest to scoring as he blazed over from a promising position.
Swansea were off the pace throughout and struggled to trouble their opponents, who took the lead when James Collins headed in.
The Swans then had substitute Jordon Garrick sent off for raising his hand to an opponent's face amid a melee involving both sets of players.
That compounded a miserable afternoon for Steve Cooper's men, who drop to 10th in the Championship table and now find themselves four points adrift of the play-off places.
Victory for Luton, however, extends their unbeaten run to four matches and moves them within three points of safety after Hull drew at Birmingham to move above Huddersfield and out of the relegation zone on goal difference.
The three points were as deserved as they were precious for Nathan Jones' side who, despite starting this match five points adrift of safety at the foot of the table, gave an assured display as they defended with discipline and used their possession efficiently.
Swansea, by contrast, were hesitant, lacking the verve and purpose which had seen them breeze past Middlesbrough 3-0 last weekend.
There was a glimpse of their attacking potential when Jake Bidwell's delicately lofted pass found Andre Ayew, whose shot was saved by Simon Sluga.
But that was a rare moment of promise in a sluggish first half from the hosts, while their opponents continued to impress.
They should have taken the lead after 15 minutes when Cornick sprinted clear down the right wing and cut inside on to his left foot, but his shot flew over the bar.
Swansea slowly started to gain a foothold in the match as playmakers Matt Grimes and Conor Gallagher enjoyed more possession but, as the first half ended goalless, it was clear the home side needed to make changes.
Head coach Cooper did so at the interval by replacing the misfiring winger Aldo Kalulu with Garrick, and the Swans responded by starting the second half with more urgency.
Genuine scoring opportunities were still at a premium, however, as Luton remained compact and difficult to break down.
Ben Cabango came close to scoring his first goal for Swansea when his header from a Grimes corner was well saved by Sluga and, as Brewster headed the rebound over, Cooper's men might have got the feeling this was not going to be their day.
Not only did they fail to register the victory many would have expected against the Championship's bottom side, the Swans ended the match with nothing.
Luton took the lead with a well-worked goal, Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu finding substitute Izzy Brown, whose deep cross from the right was headed in by Collins, despite a touch from Freddie Woodman in the Swansea goal.
Mass fracas
From that point, the home side unravelled, losing their heads as a series of wild challenges from both sides resulted in a fracas involving almost every player on the pitch.
Amid the chaos, Garrick raised his hand towards the face of a Luton player and, while it was too tame an attack to be called a punch, it was still an act of stupidity which left referee Andy Woolmer with little choice other than to send him off after consulting his assistants.
Garrick's dismissal undermined any hope Swansea had of staging a late comeback and, while Luton celebrated their valuable win, the Swans only had themselves to blame as they saw their play-off hopes suffer a significant blow.
Swansea City head coach Steve Cooper:
"Poor result, poor performance.
"We gave away a poor goal, giving away possession a few times and a free cross into the box and a free header. Really, really disappointing day.
"It's a clear red. I've got no arguments. I thought the referee caused the melee, but I don't want my comment on the referee to hide the fact that Jordon has done something that is a clear red."
Luton Town manager Nathan Jones:
"We thoroughly deserved it. To come here as the away side, with Swansea flying high, it's a wonderful result.
"We had belief we could stay up before we came into this game, but we have to instil it with results. Results rubber-stamp the belief and that's what today will do.
"If we had no belief, why come here? I could have stayed in my garden and had a barbeque. We believed we have enough in this squad. Now, we have to pick up the points to prove that.
"We came here to win. As an away performance from a team at the bottom of the league, it was an outstanding display.
"Swansea have a front four as good as anything at this level, so we had to be tight and subdue them and we did that."