Luton boss makes Goodison Park claim and Everton ‘monsters’ admission after victory

Luton Town boss Rob Edwards admitted he fully expected his side to pick up a victory over Everton at Goodison Park.

The Hatters earned their maiden win since earning promotion to the Premier League at the expense of Sean Dyche’s men. The Kenilworth Road outfit ran out 2-1 victors on Merseyside to move them out of the relegation zone.

Despite Everton dominating the early stages, Luton rode out the storm before scoring from two set-pieces in a seven-minute period. Tom Lockyer bagged for the visitors after the Blues failed to clear their lines on 24 minutes before Carlton Morris was left in acres of space from a free-kick and finished beyond Jordan Pickford.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin got Everton back into the game four minutes before half-time when he bundled home. But in the second period, the hosts scarcely troubled Luton, who deserved three points at the final whistle.

“I’m pleased. It’s a really difficult place to come. I know they haven’t had the best times in terms of results recently but any game away from home would be difficult for us.

“I’m just very proud of the players and pleased for the club. It’s a big moment, I get that but I don’t want this to come across as arrogant but I expected us [to win] today. I fancied us, I told the boys before the game it was going to be a really good day, I really believed.

“Total respect but we really believed we could come here and win the game. We had a plan and Everton, they’ve got some good players and are very fluid, especially in that first half. There was a lot of movement, a lot going on and we had to adjust at half-time, which we did and looked more solid. It felt great, I’m more pleased for the supporters we’ve given them something to shout about.

“The fact that we have been improving, we’ve been in the game. I just felt today, the styles would fit, I felt we’d find some spaces and cause them problems. Again, that’s all with due respect, they have got some really good individuals and can attack quickly, put balls in the box with real physicality and we’re normally quite good with dealing with that stuff.”

Both of Luton’s goals were engineered from set-pieces, while Calvert-Lewin’s strike from a second phase of a free-kick. Edwards admitted Everton have some ‘monsters’ and was delighted how his side yielded two goals. He added: “We always knew that. We always had a plan, there will always be tweaks for every game we can expose the opposition where we think they’re strong to try to avoid. They’ve clearly got some height and presence but we felt there were some areas we could target.

“We conceded from the second or third threat, the ball has still come in the box, they’ve got some monsters there to attack the ball. We didn’t deal with it on one occasion but a lot of work goes into that, I can’t take any credit, that’s the staff who put a lot of working hours into set-pieces because we see how valuable they are.”