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LUTON Town squandered a three-goal lead to lose 4-3 at Bournemouth as they blew their chance to climb out of the Premier League relegation zone on Wednesday.
It looked so good for Luton on an emotional night on the south coast as first-half goals by Tahith Chong, Chiedozie Ogbene and Ross Barkley put them in complete control.
That scoreline would have lifted Luton above Nottingham Forest into 17th place but Bournemouth, who were booed off at halftime were transformed after the interval.
Dominic Solanke struck immediately after the break and the hosts were level by the 65th minute thanks to goals by Illia Zabarnyi and Antoine Semenyo.
Luton were reeling and there was a sense of inevitability about Semenyo netting the winner in the 83rd minute.
The game was re-scheduled after the initial fixture was abandoned after 59 minutes in December when Luton captain Tom Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch.
Lockyer, whose photo adorned Bournemouth’s match-day programme, was present on Wednesday and received a standing ovation before kickoff as he met the medics who saved his life.
Luton remain in 18th place with 21 points from 28 games, three points behind Nottingham Forest who they host at the weekend in a crunch relegation battle.
“It’s going to hurt but we have to pick ourselves up. We have another huge game in a few days time and we’ve got no other option but to pick ourselves up and go again.
“We are not out of this fight. We are three points behind the team above us and our job is to try and win the game on Saturday,” downbeat Luton manager Rob Edwards said.
The focus was all on Lockyer before kickoff as he returned to the stadium where he almost lost his life.
“I am quite numb to the whole thing but being back here, I came into the tunnel area and saw the paramedics that saved my life. I recognised them straight away.
“What do you say in that situation other than thank you? They are heroes, they saved my life. I got a bit emotional,” Lockyer said.
Lockyer, who had an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) fitted following his cardiac arrest, was up applauding when Chong headed in after eight minutes from Jordan Clark’s cross as Luton started fast.
Chong was involved again in the 31st minute when his astute pass found Alfie Doughty who then teed up Ogbene to make it 2-0.
Also, when Barkley finished superbly on the stroke of halftime Luton were in dreamland.
Bournemouth were sent out early for the second half by manager Andoni Iraola and they gave themselves a lifeline.
This was when Solanke spun away from Daiki Hashioka after some deft control and dinked the ball into the net for his 15th league goal of the season.
All four sides of the stadium broke into applause in the 59th minute in respect of Lockyer but at almost the same moment Zabarnyi bundled in Bournemouth’s second.
A couple of minutes later Semenyo cut in to lash a low shot past Luton keeper Thomas Kaminski.
It was Semenyo who also completed an incredible comeback with another powerful finish as Luton’s defence crumbled.
Bournemouth, who remain in 13th place with 35 points, are the first team for 21 years to win a Premier League game in which they trailed by three goals.
They also recovered from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Sheffield United last weekend.(Reuters/NAN)
14th MARCH 2024.
C.E.
Tags: Bournemouth Chiedozie Ogbene Luton Town
