West Bromwich Albion 3-2 Luton Town: Ismael's Baggies hold out against Hatters

Former Barnsley boss Valerien Ismael took over at West Brom in June

Valerien Ismael enjoyed a winning home debut at The Hawthorns as his West Brom side survived a late scare to beat Luton Town.

The Hatters came back into the game from 3-0 down after being stung into life by the incident that led to Luton midfielder Jordan Clark being carried off.

Clark left the pitch on a stretcher after a long delay, following an aerial challenge by England keeper Sam Johnstone.

The visitors then scored twice, first through Harry Cornick and then from Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu eight minutes into the 16 minutes of stoppage time added by referee Tim Robinson.

But wobbly Albion held out to eventually secure their first Championship win of the season from a game they should have long since had wrapped up.

Karlan Grant's socially distanced celebration with Callum Robinson, who scored for the second week running

Albion were set on their way by a comic fifth-minute headed own goal from Luton captain Kal Naismith.

Goals from strikers Callum Robinson, in the 36th minute, and Karlan Grant, in the 66th minute, appeared to have got the job done before Cornick began the Hatters revival on 70 minutes.

That quick run of second-half goals came immediately after the 10-minute hold-up that followed Clark's nasty-looking collision with Johnstone, back for his first start of the season after a delayed return from European Championship duty.

And Luton, roared on by their raucous 1,433 supporters in a near-capacity 23,283 crowd, came close to snatching a point.

If they had done so, Albion would only have had themselves to blame for not making the game safe sooner.

Albion had enjoyed a lucky break for their early opener when Darnell Furlong's long throw made it all the way to the edge of the six-yard box and Naismith climbed highest but succeeded only in getting a thin touch off the top of his head, which diverted the ball past his own goalkeeper Simon Sluga.

From another Furlong throw, Sluga tipped a header over from defender Matt Clarke, who then tested him again with a near-post flick, and Grady Diangana's header was deflected wide before Albion doubled their lead.

From Alex Mowatt's corner, Sluga flapped under pressure from Clarke and Robinson stole in to squirt a far-post header over the line.

But, although Grant made it 3-0, the way Luton responded will have given their travelling fans heart.

Nathan Jones' side now head to Barnsley on Tuesday, while Albion are back in action 24 hours later with another home game against Sheffield United, relegated with them from the Premier League at the end of last season.

West Bromwich Albion boss Valerien Ismael told BBC Radio WM:

"It was a day of great emotion. We were in control. We started really strong. We saw the power from the crowd, combined with our way to play. And we should have scored more goals in the first half.

"In the second half we came out strong and then came the injury. It was another 15-minute break. It killed our legs and our rhythm.

"Then we made a mistake. After that it was another game. They then changed completely their way of playing. There was more fight, and you need to embrace the fight. We struggled with this."

Jordan Clark was injured in a collision with West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone however the club later said he was allowed home from hospital after scans revealed no issues

Luton manager Nathan Jones:

"Jordan Clark is recovering and he's conscious, so that's the good thing. It's a concussion injury. He's too brave for his own good really. That's the boy he is. It's disappointing to have lost him but the main thing is he's OK.

"The way keepers protect themselves, you're always liable to get hurt. He was just unfortunate. The ball was almost perfect. It's one of those things.

"Everybody knew about Barnsley last year and the way West Brom are going to play, and fair play to them. They should go up, they're well equipped for the Championship. They'll be hard to beat here."