Soccer

Slimane’s own goal hands Luton chaotic triumph over Sheffield United

Premier League round-up: Dominic Solanke continues impressive scoring form in Bournemouth’s win over Fulham

Gabriel Osho of Luton Town celebrates victory at full-time in the Premier League match against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. Photograph: George Wood/Getty Images

Tue Dec 26 2023 - 17:39
Sheffield United 2 Luton Town 3

Carlton Morris climbed off the bench to create two own goals in four minutes for Luton as they beat Sheffield United 3-2 in a crucial Premier League basement battle at Bramall Lane.

The Blades were on course for an important victory as goals from Oli McBurnie and Anel Ahmedhodzic overturned Alfie Doughty’s first-half opener for the Hatters.

But substitute Morris was the orchestrator as Jack Robinson and Anis Slimane put through their own net to give Luton back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time.

The match was also notable for being the first Premier League match to be officiated by a black referee for 15 years as Sam Allison took the whistle and he mainly stayed away from controversy, apart from a contentious decision to award a corner in the build-up to Robinson’s own goal.

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Luton were not complaining as the festive season which began with a win over Newcastle on Saturday added another vital three points and they will believe survival is a real possibility going into the second half of the campaign.

It looks like the Blades will need a miracle to get themselves out of the bottom three as they have just nine points at the halfway mark and this could be a damaging loss.

Bournemouth 3 Fulham 0

Dominic Solanke continued his impressive scoring form with a second-half penalty as Bournemouth secured a 3-0 victory over Fulham at the Vitality Stadium.

Andoni Iraola made two changes from the Cherries’ win over Nottingham Forest, and they combined to create the opener as a fine run by Alex Scott set up Justin Kluviert’s opener just before half-time.

Solanke made Joao Palhinha pay for bringing down Antoine Semenyo inside the box shortly after the hour mark, before Luis Sinisterra put the icing on the cake with a third goal in stoppage time.

Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno’s frustrations got the better of him late on as he appeared to push a ball boy, later returning to apologise to the youngster who seemed to take the incident in stride.

It was Bournemouth’s first home contest since Luton captain Tom Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch on December 16th, and a pre-match on-screen tribute honoured those who had come to the Welshman’s aide, including Cherries midfielder Philip Billing who was widely praised for his alert response.

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