Preston North End 2-0 Luton Town: Emil Riis double gives Lilywhites win
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Preston's Emil Riis scored his first goal from a wide position, outside the penalty area
Two first-half goals from Preston North End's top scorer Emil Riis helped them see off a below-par Luton Town side at Deepdale.
The Dane signed a new deal until 2025 on Friday and arrowed a spectacular first-time strike into the far corner, from what looked like a crossing position, to open the scoring.
Riis' second came in added time before the interval, slotting home a low penalty after Preston team-mate Ali McCann was brought down in the box by Sonny Bradley.
A double half-time change temporarily lifted Luton, Cameron Jerome's header cleared off the line, but the hosts soon regained control and should have won by a wider margin.
Preston's second victory in 10 Championship games moves them nine points clear of the relegation zone, while a first defeat in six for the Hatters sees them slip out of the play-off places.
Luton came into the game the more rested, their opponents having lost to Liverpool in the EFL Cup in midweek, but they were second-best for the majority of the game with their leading scorer Elijah Adebayo ruled out by a hamstring problem.
A coming-together between home skipper Alan Browne and Hatters defender Tom Lockyer sparked a melee in the first half, with both players booked.
The introduction of Henri Lansbury and Admiral Muskwe briefly lifted Nathan Jones' side - the latter forcing a fine stop out of Preston keeper Daniel Iversen - but after surviving a period of pressure the home side did not look troubled.
Riis, now on 11 goals from 19 appearances this season, headed a Tom Barkhuizen cross over and looked to have been brought down around 18 yards out when through on goal, but referee Dean Whitestone was unmoved.
Barkhuizen, Patrick Bauer and Scott Sinclair were all denied by Luton keeper Simon Sluga as Preston looked to add to the scoreline.
The visitors came close to a consolation goal when Kal Naismith's deflected strike from range was excellently tipped over by Iversen, with the Lilywhites remaining unbeaten at home since the opening day of the season.
Preston head coach Frankie McAvoy told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"I thought we started a bit tentative if I'm being honest - we tried to move the ball out from the back and there were a few scary moments for us.
"But once we started to settle down and put our foot on the ball I thought we looked a bit better.
"Goals change games and I felt Emil's strike was magnificent - I'm no way saying it was a cross because he does it in training, he hits things from weird and wonderful areas.
"I was delighted by how we played."
Luton boss Nathan Jones told BBC Three Counties Radio:
"We didn't really look like scoring today, we didn't do the basics well enough.
"I don't think he [Riis] means to score from there but that was a big moment.
"We were a mile off today - we weren't at our level today and I thought Preston were excellent.
"They did to us what we normally do to teams and that's the sad thing - we haven't had a performance like that for a little bit, but it brings us back down to earth."