Leeds grab the late Lut OWN-GOAL AGONY FOR HATTERS
LEEDS boss Marcelo Bielsa praised the battling qualities of his team as they grabbed a last-gasp winner.
Unlucky Hatter Matt Pearson put through his own goal in the 90th minute as Leeds went second in the table behind West Brom.
Bielsa felt his side deserved to win at a soggy Kenilworth Road, even though they left it so late.
He said: “The result was fair. In the first half it was more easy for us but in the second half we had to fight a little bit more.
“As usual, it’s difficult to win. If you don’t fight, you don’t have a good condition to play.
“If you want to win, you have to fight.
“We fought well and that allowed us to play well.
“After the first goal we had chances to impose the second one. After we scored the second goal we had two clear chances.”
Jack Harrison forced Luton goalkeeper James Shea to collect a cross on 15 minutes and Patrick Bamford beat the offside trap and the keeper, but not the post on 32 minutes.
Shea made an excellent double block immediately afterwards, firstly from Kalvin Phillips and then denying Har ri s on’s follow-up.
He was called into action again on 42 minutes when he turned a Tyler Roberts effort around the post after the shot had taken a deflection.
But the Luton stopper was beaten seven minutes after the restart when Bamford broke to slot home.
However, home fans were enraged after they felt they should have had a free- kick just be f o re the opener when Izzy Brown appeared to be upended.
Luton hit back on 54 minutes when James Collins headed home, and the hosts looked to have done enough for a point until Mateusz Klich’s cross for Bamford came off Pearson and beat Shea.
Luton manager Graeme Jones felt play should have been stopped for the foul on Brown in the build-up to Leeds’ opener.
He said: “I try to be fair and objective. I have watched the clips back. It was a foul on Izzy – he’s taken his legs away from him.
“The gulf is already big enough so when key decisions like that don’t go for you, it’s tough to swallow.
“You have to give a lot of credit for the performance .
“But we need to turn these performances into results.
“Leeds are the best team in the league. They really can just cut through you.”
LUTON LEEDS 5 ........ Shots on Target ........ 12 5 ........Shots off Target ......... 5 4 ................Corners .................8 7 .................. Fouls.................... 11 2 ............... Offsides ................. 0 62 .... Passing Success % .. 85.4 213 ........Total Passes .........625 25.3 .....Possession % ...... 74.7 45.1 ...Territorial Adv % ...54.9