Carlton Morris celebrates his winning goal for Luton against Sheffield Wednesday
Carlton Morris struck twice in the final 13 minutes to give Luton Town a comeback Championship win against Sheffield Wednesday.
The Owls had taken a deserved lead through a Barry Bannan volley as they sought their first league win since the opening day of the season.
They had the better of the first half but Bannan's goal roused the Hatters and they struck back when Wednesday defender Di'Shon Bernard conceded a penalty for handball and was sent off, with Morris coolly converting the spot-kick.
Morris made it two wins on the trot for Luton, after a slow start to the season, with the winner two minutes from time.
Wednesday barely deserved to be on the losing side after bossing the first half. They arrested a run of three straight league defeats with last week’s home draw against Queens Park Rangers, when Bannan was also the goalscorer.
They began brightly at Kenilworth Road against a Hatters side who hoped that they had turned the corner by beating Millwall at The Den last time out.
Bannan was everywhere, half-volleying the first chance over the bar, sending Michael Smith clear for a shot well saved by Thomas Kaminski and then crossing for Josh Windass, who was also denied by the goalkeeper’s leg.
Luton showed signs of waking up before half-time as a Mark McGuinness header forced James Beadle to tip the ball over the bar.
It was not a great surprise, however, when Wednesday - for whom Akin Famewo had been a rock in defence - took the lead seven minutes after the re-start.
Yan Valery raced down the right and crossed for Bannan to show superb technique by volleying it past Kaminski.
Luton responded, and manager Rob Edwards made a triple substitution on the hour mark, sending on Tom Krauss, Zack Nelson and Morris.
It paid off as Bernard was judged to have handled. He was shown a red card and referee Gavin Ward pointed to the spot, from where Morris slotted in the equaliser.
Wednesday were still not giving up on the win as Windass had a low shot saved by Kaminski but Morris pounced with two minutes left to secure the points.
'The better team lost' - reaction
Luton coach Rob Edwards told BBC Radio Three Counties:
"I don’t think we should have been a goal down, but we have a squad for a reason and they made an impact today, absolutely.
"The hardest part of my job is disappointing people, whether it's the fans when we don't win or the players when they don't play.
"They have to be focused, ready, know their jobs and be motivated, and Carlton is all of those things. He will get the headlines and rightly so, but he is all of those things and I’m delighted for him.
"They were well-organised, we weren't playing with the right intensity and were a little bit slow in the press in the first half."
Sheffield Wednesday coach Danny Rohl told BBC Radio Sheffield:
"The better team lost. The direction, the improvement is there. This was a step forward for what I want to see.
"If we work this way we will get the points. Last week we had a 50-50 decision against us and we had a 50-50 decision against us today [for the penalty].
"When I looked to our box and we had a corner and two times Di’Shon (Bernard) goes down and there's nothing, it's a little bit hard to take.
"The players on the pitch should decide the game and not somebody else."
