A late goal from defender Anel Ahmedhodzic saw Sheffield United move to the top of the Championship as they picked up their fourth-successive victory when beating bottom-of-the-table Luton 1-0 at Kenilworth Road.
The struggling Hatters had looked by far the better side in the first half, Thelo Aasgaard’s snapshot from 20 yards well handled by the retreating Michael Cooper.
Luton kept the pressure up, forcing two corners, the second of which was taken short to Liam Walsh, his inviting cross headed off target by Elijah Adebayo.
The hosts were a whisker away from moving ahead after 15 minutes when a glorious team move ended with Aasgaard curling the ball against the underside of the crossbar and Izzy Jones’ follow up blocked by the legs of a grateful Cooper.
Town remained on the front foot, but could not get the goal their play most definitely deserved, Aasgaard teasing in a beautiful cross that Adebayo volleyed over from six yards.
They kept on shooting when the chance arose too, Aasgaard sidefooting at Cooper from 20 yards, Walsh blasting over the woodwork from further out.
In the final stages of the first half, the Blades had their best moment. Tyrese Campbell was slipped through but Luton goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski used his legs to save.
Aasgaard had another crack that flew into the stands, while in the second period, United came close but skipper Jack Robinson’s back-post header proved an easy save for Kaminski.
Then came a flurry of chances at both ends, Carlton Morris’ glancing header from Alfie Doughty’s cross palmed away by Cooper and Campbell’s low ball in prodded against the crossbar by a stretching Ben Brereton Diaz from a matter of yards.
The former Villarreal attacker ought to have really broken the deadlock midway through the half though, when a cross bounced kindly at his feet, thumping over the top.
Luton had another attempt after 75 minutes, Doughty clipping a free-kick into the box and there was Morris to send his header in, Cooper claiming easily.
Late on, it felt that Luton’s wastefulness would come back and bite them and after Kaminski kept out a header, the Blades won it when Ahmedhodzic turned the ball home, the Hatters supporters and players screaming for an offside flag that never came.
Callum O’Hare saw his attempt deflected over, but the visitors saw the game out professionally to leapfrog Leeds – who were not in action – and reach the summit of the English second tier.
The managers
Luton’s Matt Bloomfield:
“It’s really disappointing. I’ve been told inside by some of the guys that have been here all season, that the first 45 was the best that its been all season, which is pleasing on one hand but disappointing on the other as we want to win games, we want to win football matches and we haven’t today.
“We’re disappointed, but that’s the minimum performance that we need to provide for the rest of the season. It’s about performances, we can’t just hope for results without putting performances in.
“Eventually good performances pay you back, there’s no doubt about that and that’s the level that we need to attain for the rest of the season.
“There were some really good individual performances that went into the collective and I thought – all over the pitch – there was good energy, so there’s loads of examples of positives.
“We have to be very balanced in what we do, we have to be consistent – we’ve spoken about that a lot.
“We can’t get too carried away with the disappointing performances like Wednesday evening (a 2-0 loss to Sunderland). We all understood that.
“We analysed it and tried to do something different today and I thought the boys responded well.”
Sheffield United’s Chris Wilder:
“They (Luton) gave their supporters something to get excited about in terms of their approach.
“They stuck it on us, they played forward and it was a really difficult proposition to deal with, but it was a difficult first half.
“We made some changes for the second half and we had to find a way to get hold of the game, had a couple of chances as well, but it was a day where you knew it was going to come on top for us and we managed to deal with that and get three points.
“It was a great finish. We lost a couple of players – Tom Cannon and Gus (Hamer) – so we had to change it around a bit.
“We changed personnel, but the togetherness of the group is incredible and that’s the reason we’re in the position that we are.
“Every day we turn up and the standards turn up and every game we turn up and that’s what I love about the team.”
