Adebayo Hits Hat-Trick As Luton Demolishes Brighton
Luton scored twice inside the opening three minutes as Elijah Adebayo claimed a hat-trick in a remarkable victory over Brighton which lifted the Hatters out of the Premier League relegation zone.
Adebayo nodded the home side in front when he beat Seagulls goalkeeper Jason Steele to Carlton Morris’ knockdown with just 18 seconds on the clock.
The host doubled their lead less than two minutes later, Chiedozie Ogbene beating the Brighton offside trap and knocking the ball past the onrushing Steele.
Leicester City are the only side to take a quicker 2-0 lead in a Premier League match, against Derby in April 1998.
Adebayo struck his second and Luton’s third of the game late in the first half after running on to Ross Barkley’s pass, and Jordan Clark thought he had made it 4-0 early in the second but was denied by an offside flag.
But Brighton’s reprieve was only temporary as former Walsall striker Adebayo nodded home Alfie Doughty’s corner to become the first Luton player to score a top-flight hat-trick since Lars Elstrup against Norwich in September 1990, while the first at Kenilworth Road since Mark Stein against Oxford in February 1988.
“I feel – we feel – the best way for us to go in this league is to attack,” Hatters manager Rob Edwards told BBC Match of the Day. “We’ve done that to quite a few teams – it’s how we play.
“With a result and performance like this, a few people might take notice of it a little bit more. We’re going to keep driving the players.
“We have to keep our foot down. We can’t afford to stop because we’re not good enough to do that.”
BBC/Ejiofor Ezeifeoma
