Adebayo rescues struggling Luton in draw against Everton

LUTON, MAY 4: Elijah Adebayo kept Luton in the hunt to avoid relegation from the Premier League as his equaliser rescued a 1-1 draw against Everton on Friday.

Rob Edwards side trailed to Dominic Calvert-Lewins penalty but Adebayo scored the crucial leveller before half-time at Kenilworth Road.

Despite earning just one win in their past 15 league games, third-bottom Luton are still in contention to beat the drop.
They are behind fourth-bottom Nottingham Forest on goal difference, with Nuno Espirito Santos team facing already-relegated Sheffield United on Saturday.

A Forest win at Bramall Lane would move them three points ahead of Luton, who have two games left against West Ham and Fulham to avoid an immediate return to the Championship after last seasons fairytale promotion.

"We are still in this fight as we speak. Im proud of the performance but it would have been huge to win tonight. Almost but weve had a lot of them this year," Edwards said.

Lutons survival bid is further complicated by the wait for a verdict on Forests appeal against their four-point deduction for financial breaches, with a Premier League announcement expected before the end of the season.

"Theres a long way to go and its over to them (Forest) tomorrow. Theres a situation thats going on thats out of our control that isn ideal," Edwards said in reference to Forests appeal.

"I don really understand it. Everyone would just like to know where they stand. I think wed all like that."

Despite losing eight points as punishment for financial breaches of their own, Everton had already secured their Premier League status with three games to spare.

Winners of their previous three matches, Sean Dyches side had nothing to play for on their first visit to Kenilworth Road for 17 years but they did enough to frustrate the superstitious Edwards.

Edwards revealed this week that he drives the same route to the stadium, uses the same toothpaste and walks his dog at a certain time of day if Luton are on a winning streak.

Beaten in their last three matches, Edwards needed a change of fortune so he said he would switch his underwear for the Everton clash.

Unfortunately for Edwards, Lutons luck was out initially as Tahith Chong appealed in vain for an early penalty after stumbling when Everton keeper Jordan Pickford rushed out to challenge the Luton forward.

Teden Mengi gifted Everton a 23rd-minute penalty when he needlessly wrestled Jarrad Branthwaite to the ground as the pair jostled at a corner.

Calvert-Lewin stepped up to drill the spot-kick down the middle for his fourth goal in his last five games.

But Luton had no intention of surrendering and they were level seven minutes later.

Targeting Evertons Ashley Young time and again, Lutons persistence paid off as Adebayo controlled Albert Sambi Lokongas high pass on his chest, muscled his way past the veteran defender and slammed a fine finish past Pickford from 10 yards. In his first start since February after a hamstring injury, Adebayo had taken his goal tally for the season to 10.

Luton striker Carlton Morris had a towering header cleared off the line by Ben Godfrey just before half-time.

Jack Harrison almost put Everton in front against the run of play with a deflected effort that was clawed away from under the bar by Thomas Kaminski.

Calvert-Lewins powerful header forced a brilliant tip over from Kaminski, while Pickford made a fine stop from Luke Berrys header in stoppage-time.     —AFP