On Saturday, Luton Town completed one of the most spectacular climbs in English football history, defeating Coventry City on penalties in the Championship play-off final to guarantee a spot in the Premier League the next season.
The game began with Luton Town’s iconic defender Tom Lockyer being stretchered off after collapsing with no one around. Fortunately, the club subsequently stated that he was awake and had been brought to the hospital for evaluation.
Jordan Clark opened the scoring for Luton Town after 23 minutes with a powerful strike at the near post as the Hatters controlled the opening half.
Coventry, on the other hand, came back after halftime and equalised due to Gustavo Hamer’s pinpoint goal into the bottom corner.
With the scores tied after 90 minutes, the game headed to extra time as tensions rose from both ends of a sold-out Wembley Stadium.
As both sides were increasingly exhausted throughout a gruelling stretch of extra time, opportunities became few and far between, and it became clear that this final would be decided on penalties.
After Jonathan Panzo’s blunder, Joe Taylor believed he had scored the winning goal for Luton Town with only five minutes left, but his elation was short-lived as VAR ruled his attempt out for handball.
The first 11 penalties in the shootout were among the best you’ll see at any level, but Coventry’s Fankaty Dabo was the 12th man to go up and, sadly, the first to miss, his shot whizzing over the crossbar.
It threw half of Wembley Stadium, which was decked out in Luton Town orange, into a state of euphoria as the Hatters returned to the top flight of English football for the first time in 31 years.
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