(Football news) The Hatters destroyed Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0, while the Magpies tore down the walls of the Villa Park stronghold by defeating Aston Villa 3-1 in their most recent match.
Newcastle defender Fabian Schar had tried 73 shots in the Premier League without success prior to Tuesday’s match against Villa, where he required just two efforts on goal to record an improbable brace. It was like waiting a long time for two buses to arrive at once.
Within seven minutes of the restart, Alex Moreno’s own goal put the outcome beyond doubt. The Swiss center-back had first met Kieran Trippier’s corner with an instinctive shot before being in the right place at the right time to push in Gordon’s crossbar-rattling strike.
An Ollie Watkins finish would set up an intriguing finale, but unlike in the animal kingdom, the Magpies came up trumps against the Lions to subject Unai Emery’s side to their first Premier League home defeat of the season, while also marching to a third successive away win in all tournaments.
A second successive Champions League qualification may now be a pipe dream for Eddie Howe’s men owing to their winter woes, but the Magpies are still dreaming of Europa League or Europa Conference League sojourns in seventh place, at least until Manchester United square off against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday night.
While Howe’s men have an unblemished road record to boast in 2024, three of Newcastle’s last four home matches have seen the Magpies fall short – including their last two Premier League affairs with Nottingham Forest and Manchester City – and it is the visitors who possess the fondest memories from their most recent showdown.
As praiseworthy as Newcastle’s Villa Park success was, the Magpies’ thunder was stolen by an Elijah Adebayo-inspired Luton Town on Tuesday night, as the Hatters wrote a couple of pages of club history with their biggest Premier League win to date against Brighton.
A mere 18 seconds were on the clock when Adebayo began the Hatters goal rush, and after Chiedozie Ogbene also got in on the act with just three minutes on the clock, the former completed a terrific treble of strikes – Luton’s first in the Premier League era – in an astonishing four-goal annihilation of the Seagulls.
Possibly spurred on by the emotional return of captain Tom Lockyer to the training ground earlier in the week, Luton have temporarily escaped the relegation zone thanks to Tuesday’s remarkable win and hold a one-point lead over 18th-placed Everton, who have played a game more than Rob Edwards’s crop.
