Millenic All rescues Luton Town
Stoke City 1 - 1 Luton Town
Millenic Alli came off the bench to salvage a precious point for Luton Town with a dramatic injury-time equaliser at Stoke City, breathing fresh life into their Championship survival hopes.
Lewis Baker had earlier looked to have secured all three points for Stoke when his deflected free-kick beat Thomas Kaminski in the 74th minute, but Luton refused to go quietly. Alli found space at the far post in the first minute of stoppage time and fired home, extending the Hatters’ unbeaten run to five matches.
Matt Bloomfield’s side remain in trouble, two points from safety with just five games to play, and four behind Mark Robins’ Stoke, who sit 20th.
The first half was largely forgettable, with Sam Gallagher’s header and a volley from Theo Aasgaard offering the only real moments of note. The tempo picked up after the break, sparked by a hefty challenge from Carlton Morris on Stoke defender Ashley Phillips which riled the home crowd and added some much-needed edge to the contest.
Mark McGuinness went close for the visitors with a header, while Ben Wilmot tested Kaminski at the other end. Luton were briefly exposed down the left and Gallagher was played through by Million Manhoef, but the Stoke striker’s early effort lacked conviction and rolled just wide. Kaminski then did just enough to keep out a long-range attempt from Baker.
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Stoke finally made the breakthrough when Lamine Fanne was penalised for hauling down Gallagher, and Baker stepped up to take the resulting free-kick. His powerful effort took a wicked deflection off Reece Burke, wrongfooting Kaminski and nestling in the corner. The home fans erupted, while the 1,191 travelling Luton supporters fell silent.
But Luton have shown signs in recent weeks that they may yet find a way out of trouble. Stoke goalkeeper Viktor Johansson was forced into a smart save to keep out an Alli effort in the 83rd minute, and Lasse Nordas went close shortly afterwards.
The equaliser arrived when Isaiah Jones whipped in a cross from the right. Jordan Clark’s acrobatic attempt confused the defence and the ball broke to Alli, who took a touch, beat his marker and squeezed a low shot past Johansson at the near post.
