When the ball left Pedro Neto’s boot and stunned silence fell on three sides of the ground, it felt like a thunderbolt had struck Kenilworth Road. After near-total dominance for Luton, Wolves, down to 10 men, were ahead, leaving their hosts facing the prospect of their most gut-wrenching defeat since their return to the top flight.
The way they battled back to earn a first point of the season suggests that, for all the premature talk of relegation, it is too early to dismiss their hopes of survival. It is testament to their improvement since being blown away by Brighton in their opening game that they will feel disappointed not to have a first Premier League win.
The two sides had much in common coming into this match: both had four losses to their name, had shown glimmers of promise without reward and had made a habit of creating chances without finishing them, though Wolves at least had a victory against Everton to build on.
While the visitors arrived at Kenilworth Road as favourites – a given this season – their fans may have harboured bad memories: the last time Wolves visited in 2013, when they were in the Championship and Luton were still yet to escape the Conference, the home team earned a famous FA Cup upset.
Luton made by far the stronger start to the game with Chiedozie Ogbene, making his first Premier League start after several impressive cameos from the bench, wreaking havoc on the left flank. Having burst into space, he teed up Alfie Doughty for a cross which fell just beyond Jacob Brown.
Luton had free run of the wide areas, not least thanks to constant overlapping runs from Ogbene and Doughty, and pounded the box with a succession of crosses. With 10 minutes on the clock Carlton Morris, the scorer of their historic first Premier League goal against Brighton, lined one up from just outside the area and clattered the crossbar, raising the volume in the stands to an ear-splitting crescendo.
Once again, though, Luton’s attacking ambition went unfulfilled. Wolves settled and began to assert themselves in possession, though they failed to trouble Thomas Kaminski in the home goal. Then, just as the first murmurs of anxiety rippled through the crowd, the visitors lapsed into self-sabotage.
Having got into a tangle with Tom Lockyer and struggled to escape his opponent’s leg lock, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde kicked out at the Luton defender. Lockyer crumpled and Bellegarde’s fate was sealed, the sting of being sent off only worsened when, after waiting with his hands on his hips for the result of a VAR check, he was waved off to a chorus of boos as the original decision stood.
Wolves held on until the break, turtling up as Luton swarmed them. The hosts went back to a familiar theme after half-time, Ogbene racing down the left again and crossing to Morris for a close-range header that was saved by José Sá.
With Wolves switching to a back five after the departure of Hwang Hee-chan for Toti Gomes, the two sides looked set for a game of textbook attack-versus-defence. It was just then, with the home side gearing up for an all-out assault, that Wolves delivered the counter-punch: Neto beat Lockyer to the ball out wide, cut inside, rounded Reece Burke and left the net bulging.
The explosion of noise from the away fans reverberated beneath the corrugated iron roof of the Oak Road End. In the Main Stand, home supporters sat with arms folded or shook their heads in disbelief. Then came the sudden roar, the volume rising once again. Luton responded, refusing to give up on the goal that eluded them.
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In the end, they drew level thanks to a lucky break when a cross bounced up off João Gomes’s foot and hit his outstretched arm. Josh Smith, the referee, awarded a contentious penalty – Gary O’Neil, the Wolves manager, called it “a terrible decision” given the heavy deflection – which Morris duly slotted away, unleashing a crashing wave of relief.
The home fans thought they tasted victory when Ogbene got in behind and rolled the ball into the back of the net, but the offside flag cut their celebrations short.
“There’s loads we can improve on,” said Rob Edwards, the Luton manager, afterwards. “We’ve still got a long way to go to get to where I want us to be.” Even so, Luton’s losing start is over and, having picked themselves up off the canvas, they have shown the will to keep fighting.
