Elijah Adebayo has scored in three straight games for Luton
Elijah Adebayo struck a dramatic last-minute winner as Luton Town came from behind against Stoke City to clinch their first victory in four games.
The Hatters fell behind early on as Million Manhoef set up Tom Cannon to score his eighth goal of the season.
The home side levelled when Carlton Morris headed in a corner but, despite controlling the bulk of possession, it looked as though they would have to settle for a point.
However, Adebayo converted that single point into three with his third goal in as many games, pouncing to turn in a drive from Tom Krauss.
Stoke grabbed the lead with their first attack of the game when Manhoef's pinpoint pass caught out Hatters defender Daiki Hashioka and Cannon slipped in behind him to fire across Thomas Kaminski.
Despite that early setback, Luton dominated the rest of the first half, working both flanks to good effect and repeatedly putting the visitors' defence under pressure from Jordan Clark's set-pieces.
Viktor Johansson's quick reactions foiled Adebayo before his strike partner Morris brought Luton level, darting to the near post to meet Clark's outswinging corner and direct it across the goalkeeper.
Stoke somehow survived a scramble in the penalty area soon afterwards, with Hashioka's flick-on almost turned in by Tom Holmes before Morris and ex-Potter Jacob Brown also had efforts blocked.
Narcis Pelach's side offered little going forward, other than the odd flicker of danger from Manhoef and Bae Jun-ho, but Lewis Koumas went close just after the break with a thunderous drive that forced Kaminski to tip over.
Koumas blazed another chance over after collecting a misdirected clearance from Mark McGuinness, but the Hatters renewed their siege of Stoke's goal as the game advanced into its final quarter.
Morris squandered their best chance, stabbing wide from close range after Krauss cut the ball back from the left, while goalscorer Cannon weighed in at the other end of the pitch by booting Adebayo's attempt off the line.
However, Luton finally gained their reward when Clark's free-kick was partly cleared and Krauss played the ball back in for Adebayo to fire home, leaving Stoke without a win in their last six games.
Luton move up to 14th, five points above the drop zone.
Luton manager Rob Edwards told BBC Three Counties Radio:
"Going 1-0 down early on, you think 'what's coming here?' but the lads reacted really well and got back on the front foot, pushed and got the equaliser and kept going throughout.
"I felt we deserved it – we had the bigger chances, we had more shots and we had some really good openings. We trusted the lads that were on the pitch to get the job done and they just about did it.
"He goes on these runs, Eli (Adebayo). He always works incredibly hard but what he's shown in the two years I've been here is runs of games where he can score six, seven or eight goals.
"I thought that front three worked hard tonight, they played close together and they were a real handful."
Stoke head coach Narcis Pelach told BBC Radio Stoke:
"It's tough to take because it's at the very end – that happened to us at Sunderland as well but that is football. We cannot feel sorry for ourselves, we have to keep working hard and there are things we can do better.
"I think the performance was good. We had shots in the second half, we had good spells with the ball and our decision-making in the final third improved today, which was good to see.
"Luton were more physical and bigger than us, but we knew that. We tried to play the game in another way – when we had the ball we played to our style, on the ground.
"We didn't force the action as much but we had chances with Tom (Cannon), with Million (Manhoef) and Lewis (Koumas) and I'm pleased with this but I want more."
