Coventry 1 – 1 Luton – rezal404
Luton Town will play in the top flight for the first time in 31 years next season after beating Coventry 6-5 on penalties following a 1-1 draw at Wembley.
The Hatters, relegated in 1992 in the final season before the Premier League was formed, took the lead in the first half through Jordan Clark in the Championship play-off final, before Gustavo Hamer hit back for Coventry in the second, although the Hatters eventually prevailed in the shoot-out after Fankaty Dabo missed in sudden death.
This was a League Two game as recently as 2018, while Luton have also become the first side to drop from the top division in England down into non-League and back again. They were outside the EFL just nine years ago.
Coventry, meanwhile, will see their 22-year wait for Premier League football go on for at least another year. But that takes nothing away from an incredible season for Mark Robins and his side, who had also completed their own meteoric rise.
Luton edge Coventry on penalties at Wembley
Luton Town lift the Championship play-off winners’ trophy after beating Coventry on penalties to seal promotion to the Premier League.
Even after losing captain Tom Lockyer – their hero from the semi-final – after he collapsed off the ball early on, it was still Luton who dominated the first half and took the lead on 23 minutes. Elijah Adebayo’s brilliant work and silky play saw him beat Kyle McFadzean all ends up before teeing up Clark to power a strike past Ben Wilson.
With Coventry completely outplayed in the first half, Robins introduced Matty Godden at the start of the second to try and switch things up. And the move had the desired impact as Coventry found themselves level on 66 minutes.
Just like Luton’s opener it came from a swift counter, as brilliant work from Viktor Gyokeres teed up Hamer, who finished smartly from the edge of the box. He was the first equalizer scored in a Championship play-off final in 11 years.
Jordan Clark fires home the first goal at Wembley, to make it 1-0 to Luton against Coventry
Gustavo Hamer finishes off a lovely Coventry move to make it 1-1 against Luton in the Championship play-off final
It was a goal that was enough to take the game to extra-time, and in the dying embers Luton thought they had won it as a substitute Joe Taylor capitalized on a Jonathan Panzo error to race through and score, only for VAR to correctly rule that the ball had struck his hand on his way through to find the back of the net.
All 10 penalties were then converted to take it to sudden death. Luke Berry scored Luton’s sixth, before Dabo sent his penalty over to send the Hatters faithful wild and their side into the Premier League.
Mpanzu the history-maker | ‘I’ve completed football!’
Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu on Sky Sports Football after becoming the first player to rise from non-league to the Premier League with the same club:
“I’ve completed football! I’ll retire this summer! It’s been a journey, through the highs and lows but you’ve got to believe in yourself. Here I am, a Premier League player.
“The party is tonight, tomorrow, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and then Thursday – VEGAS!”
‘Edwards had huge shoes to fill’
Jobi McAnuff on Sky Sports Football:
“Last year Luton had the huge disappointment of missing out when everyone said they over-achieved to even get into the play-offs. To re-group, go again, add to the group with the right personnel and actually be better again – you look at some of the other clubs that didn’t even get close to getting into the play-offs – West Brom, Watford – is an incredible achievement.
“[Rob Edwards] might say all the managers that have gone before him laid the foundations, yes, but he had huge shoes to fill. He had a bruising experience at Watford, came back very quickly and clearly identified what he needed to do to make this team better than last year – and he’s been able to do that.”
‘It’s a special group’
Luton’s Elijah Adebayo on Sky Sports Football:
“This group is special. We’ve been practicing all week on penalties and stuck to the routine. A special day.
“Days like today are for the fans, especially those that saw the team relegated to the Conference.”
Keith Andrews on Sky Sports Football:
“I think the next week could be very, very lively. The players are so humble and I think that goes back to their recruitment. You’ve got to recruit the right people.
“What they have achieved is absolutely incredible.”
What’s next?
Having achieved promotion, Luton will play in the Premier League during the 2023/24 season, which starts on the weekend of August 12-13.
coventrymeanwhile, will remain in the Sky Bet Championship, which begins a week earlier on August 5-6.
