Goals: 31. Elijah Adebayo – 24. Dominic Calvert-Lewin (pen.)
Luton drew 1-1 with Everton in front of their own fans in the 36th round of the Premier League. Dominic Calvert-Lewin opened the scoring in the match, in which 17 Englishmen started from the opening whistle, in the 24th minute from a penalty kick. However, the home side soon equalized when the recovered Elijah Adebayo came through. It was the 10th league goal for the nearly two-metre-tall forward, bringing him within the club’s top scorer Carlton Morris. For the first time in 37 years, The Hatters had two scorers in the top competition who scored double-digit goals. However, this partial success did not mean big celebrations, as the newcomer is in a relegation position with two games to go.
Even in mid-April, it would have been a pure survival battle, but Everton played in great form, meaning three wins in a row, thanks to which they prematurely celebrated their stay among the English elite. Luton, on the other hand, lost in the same number of duels in a row and continued to remain on the relegation rung. But the Caramelky were among his favorite opponents, as he has already dominated two matches against each other this season.
Teden Mengi became an important figure in the third match between these teams after 20 minutes. He first almost knocked a cross from the side into his own net, but Thomas Kaminski saved him from disaster. Subsequently, the English defender selflessly blocked a shot from behind the penalty area for a corner kick, but in this standard situation, he pulled one of the opponents to the ground, thus causing a penalty kick. Calvert-Lewin converted the penalty with a bold attempt in the center.
The home side responded quickly as Adebayo fought for the ball in the box and then fired a powerful shot past Jordan Pickford. At the end of the half, Morris could have taken care of the conversion, but he did not take advantage of the Toffees’ lax defensive activity, as he fired wide of the left post.
The active Hatters were not idle even at the beginning of the second half. Gabriel Osho leaned into the ball on the edge of the box and narrowly missed the right post. Even Ross Barkley did not change the score after an hour of play when he climbed onto a cross from the corner flag but headed over the bar. On the other side, Jack Harrison presented a good shot, but Kaminski showed an even better save. The Belgian also scored another important hit against Calvert-Lewin’s sharp header, which was aimed at his counter move.
Pickford also showed his importance in the end, who distinguished himself against Barkley’s pumice ball and Mengi’s header. At the end of the match, he even had a rather unexpected opponent, when the goalkeeper Kaminski ran into the goal in a late standard situation.
Everton thus avoided the third defeat by Luton in one season and gained a point. In the next round, they welcome Sheffield on May 11, the Hatters will play at West Ham on the same day.
