Wycombe Wanderers 1-3 Luton Town: Moncur, LuaLua & Adebayo score in Hatters comeback
- Published
Elijah Adebayo leapt above Wycombe defender Jack Grimmer to head in Luton's third goal
Luton scored three goals in the last 10 minutes to come from behind and beat bottom-of-the-table Wycombe, who played most of the second half with 10 men.
The hosts went ahead when Admiral Muskwe was brought down in the box by Kal Naismith, and Anis Mehmeti's penalty had the power to beat Simon Sluga.
Wycombe's Josh Knight was shown a straight red card for a lunge on Jordan Clark and the Hatters eventually levelled through George Moncur's 25-yard free-kick into the bottom corner.
Kazenga LuaLua put Luton ahead with an excellent curling effort from a short corner, and Elijah Adebayo sealed the points with a brilliant header from Harry Cornick's cross.
A first defeat in four for Gareth Ainsworth's Chairboys left them nine points from safety with only five games left, while it was a first win in three for the mid-table visitors.
The teams observed a two-minute silence and wore black armbands in memory of Prince Philip, who died on Friday aged 99.
Wycombe had a strong penalty appeal waved away when Uche Ikpeazu was brought down by Matty Pearson, but when referee Oliver Langford did point to the spot for Naismith's challenge, Mehmeti found the net, despite Sluga getting a hand to it.
It was one-way traffic after Knight's dismissal, but the home side dug deep in search of a fifth clean sheet in six games.
But fine finishes from substitutes Moncur and LuaLua - plus Adebayo's towering header - turned the tables.
Luton, who sit 13th, have gone 14 away matches without losing at Wycombe in the top four tiers - the best such record for any team in Football League history.
Wycombe Wanderers manager Gareth Ainsworth:
"The red card has changed the game. I'm sure it'll be overturned on appeal.
"It was no worse than Mowatt's red card here for Barnsley which was also not a red and got overturned. We hope to have him available again next week.
"I thought we were excellent in the first half and had Luton well contained, but it was a different game with 10 men."
Luton Town manager Nathan Jones:
"We felt at half-time we were nowhere near it first half. We brought on real quality and it showed.
"Some will say the sending off changed the game, I'm sure it helped, 100%, but I think half-time actually helped the most.
"We regrouped, changed the shape a little bit, and started on the front foot. I thought we were excellent second half."