It’s time to wrap things up. I’ll leave with David Hytner’s match report from Kenilworth Road – goodnight.
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The goal came in the seventh of six added minutes, which is why there were boos at the final whistle. You can understand the frustration, though the six added minutes were always a minimum. The goal came after 96 minutes 21 seconds.
Post-match reaction
Declan Rice
Luton are a top side who can’t be overlooked in this league. They made us pay at set-pieces. But to keep the momentum going like that is massive for us.
We have to take each game as it comes. I feel like we’ve learnt a lot as a group from last season, especially with me coming in and understanding the team. There are a lot of good teams in this league and anything can happen. It’s just about us, not worrying about anyone else, and just keep doing what the manager wants: ticking the games off and getting three points each week.
When the ball was rolled back to Martin [Odegaard], I shifted my marker one way and then went off his back shoulder. I attacked it and it went in the bottom corner. Those are moments you look back on… to be honest I’m taking it all in… to score the winner in a game like is an honour.
Bukayo Saka
It’s not an easy place to come but we created a lot of chances. Luton will always have their way of playing, long balls and that, but apart from two set-pieces I thought we were in control of the game.
There’s no better way to play my 200th game for Arsenal, the club that I love. To get a win like that, I’m so happy. It’s a brilliant night for me.
It may not have topped the 1988 Littlewoods Cup final, but that was still an exhilarating game. The naked clash of styles made it fascinating even before the goals started flying in. Arsenal led 1-0 and 2-1; Luton were 3-2 up after quickfire mistakes from David Raya; but Arsenal’s new midfielders, Kai Havertz (who looked like Kai Havertz again) and Declan Rice, settled a minor classic.
The Arsenal fans are celebrating deliriously in front of the away fans. Declan Rice has a big dumb grin on his face as he throws his shirt into the crowd. Rob Edwards, meanwhile, walks slowly round the field applauding the home fans. It was an emotional, physical game that swung one way then the other. Luton were out on their feet for the last 10-15 minutes but seemed to have held on. Rice, who has now scored two injury-time winners this season, had other ideas.
Goals like that, and wins like this, are classic rites of passage for emerging teams. If Arsenal win the league, and it remains a huge if, Rice’s goal will be a must for any montage.
Full time: Luton 3-4 Arsenal
It’s all over, and Arsenal are five points clear at the top of the Premier League!
It’s too cruel on Luton, who have played heroically, but what a moment for Arsenal. Even David Raya, a very relieved David Raya, has run the length of the field to join in the celebrations. Odegaard wandered from right to left, lent the ball to Zinchenko and whipped a dangerous first-time cross from a narrow position. Rice got up early, before Osho, and willed a header into the bottom corner. It was a classic captain’s goal, and he’s not even the captain.
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GOAL! Luton 3-4 Arsenal (Rice 90+7)
Declan Rice has scored a huge goal for Arsenal!
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90+4 min: Luton 3-3 Arsenal Saka’s corner is headed away well by Mengi.
90+4 min: Luton 3-3 Arsenal Whites cross is put behind by Ogbene for yet another Arsenal corner…
90+3 min: Luton 3-3 Arsenal Giles’s cross is kicked away at the near post, and Ogbene does well to stop Saka keeping the ball in play.
90+2 min: Luton 3-3 Arsenal Zinchenko’s cross from the right is headed away to the edge of the area. Trossard charges onto the ball and wallops a shot that is superbly blocked by Chong.
90 min: Luton 3-3 Arsenal There will be six added minutes. Luton are out on their feet.
87 min: Luton 3-3 Arsenal Trossard cracks a first-time shot just wide from 25 yards. Kaminski probably had it covered.
Luton substitution: Jordan Clark and Ryan Giles replace Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu and Alfie Doughty.
86 min: Good save by Kaminski! Arsenal work the ball beautifully in a tight space on the left of the area. Eventually Zinchenko stands up a cross towards Havertz, whose header is tipped over acrobatically by Kaminski. It would probably have hit the top of the bar but Kaminski took no chances.
85 min: Luton 3-3 Arsenal It’s way too early in the season for an as-it-stands table, so here it is.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 15 | 18 | 34 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 14 | 18 | 31 |
| 3 | Man City | 14 | 20 | 30 |
| 4 | Aston Villa | 14 | 13 | 29 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 14 | 8 | 27 |
Match report: Wolves 1-0 Burnley
83 min: Luton 3-3 Arsenal Luton are starting to look tired, despite that triple substitution, and for the first time all night they are struggling to get out.
81 min: Luton 3-3 Arsenal A teasing, inswinging cross from White is headed on by Havertz and just evades the stretching Trossard at the far post. Arsenal are really pressing now.
80 min: No penalty! Mikel Arteta isn’t impressed. I didn’t think it was a foul, just a collision, though there was a better shout for a possible shirt-pull by Osho a couple of minutes earlier.
79 min: Luton 3-3 Arsenal Saka lays the ball off to Trossard, runs into Mengi and goes flying. Arsenal want a penalty, and it’s being checked by VAR.
77 min: Luton 3-3 Arsenal The irrepressible Saka robs Morris near the halfway line and sets off. He gets to the edge of the area, zig-zags between Bell and Morris and lays the ball off to Trossard, whose first-time shot hits Osho and flies over the bar.
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76 min: Luton 3-3 Arsenal Saka’s shot is well blocked by Bell and flies behind for another Arsenal corner.
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75 min: Luton 3-3 Arsenal A long-range shot from Odegaard is comfortably held to his right by Kaminski. This is a relatively quiet spell in the game, the calm between the storms.
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73 min: Luton 3-3 Arsenal Doughty is the latest person to floor Saka. Luton have been very aggressive without the ball, headbutting the line as Nathan Lyon would say.
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71 min At the other end Mpanzu shoots well wide from distance, having originally flattened Saka with a kind of thigh charge in the centre circle.
70 min: Luton 3-3 Arsenal Jesus turns Bell smartly in the area and is about to shoot/cross when he accidentally knocks the ball out of play with his standing foot.
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67 min “That was one of the things that made de Gea such a great stopper,” says Joe Pearson. “He never bothered to jump down on the ball, just stood there and kicked it away.”
Quite. It’s funny that his ability with his feet eventually cost him his United place, because for the first 6-7 years it was one of his great strengths.
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65 min: Double substitution for Arsenal Oleksandr Zinchenko and Leandro Trossard replace Jakub Kiwior and Gabriel Martinelli.
64 min “If Arteta is truly serious about treating the goalkeeper like any other position,” says Chris Lambert, “you have to expect the no. 1 to be in red lights on the board any time now.”
The Barkley goal is a mistake but I do have a bit of sympathy for Raya. I remember John Lukic conceding a very similar goal to Mark Hughes at Old Trafford in 1989. Goalkeepers want to make a proper save and end up being punished for that. You or I would have stood still and languidly welted the ball out for a throw-in.
62 min: Triple substitution for Luton Tahith Chong, Chiedozie Ogbene and Carlton Morris replace the front three of Andros Townsend, Jacob Brown and Elijah Adebayo.
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GOAL! Luton 3-3 Arsenal (Havertz 60)
It’s another Premier League humdinger! Saka hooks a speculative ball towards the edge of the Luton area, where Jesus backs into Mengi to retain possession and wait for support. Eventially he lobs an angled through pass to Havertz, who makes a textbook late run and touches the bouncing ball softly past Kaminski from eight yards.
A classic Havertz finish and a fine assist from Jesus, who has been electric tonight.
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59 min Well this is interesting.
Luton are ahead after another mistake from David Raya. Barkley, 30 today, led a Luton break and fed a ball across the edge of the area to Townsend. He chopped back inside Havertz and returned the ball to Barkley on the left edge of the area. Barkley beat White with a stepover and cracked a low left-footed shot that went straight through Raya, who tried to dive when he could have just stood still and kicked the ball away.
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GOAL! Luton 3-2 Arsenal (Barkley 57)
Happy birthday Ross Barkley!
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54 min Odegaard’s inswinging free-kick is headed over by Havertz. An eighth of a chance, if that.
53 min: No penalty. So on we go.
52 min Kiwior has a shot from the edge of the area that is blocked. He was also caught by Townsend after taking the shot, though it was Townsend who stayed down. There’s a VAR check for a possible Arsenal penalty. The challenge was right on the edge of the area.
Doughty, who also made the first goal, curled a lovely inswinging corner into the six-yard box. Raya came for it but was beaten emphatically by Adebayo, who got up first and headed the ball into an empty net. That wasn’t Raya’s finest hour.
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GOAL! Luton 2-2 Arsenal (Adebayo 49)
Luton are level from another set-piece!
Full time: Wolves 1-0 Burnley
Wolves continue their excellent home form with a nervy victory over Burnley. Hwang Hee-chan scored the only goal on the stroke of half-time, finishing coolly after Burnley lost the ball on the edge of their own area.
46 min: Luton 1-2 Arsenal Peep peep! The second half is under way at Kenilworth Road.
88 min: Wolves 1-0 Burnley Wolves are closing in on a very useful victory, which would move them 11 points clear of the relegation places (nine points if Everton’s appeal is successful).
Half time: Luton 1-2 Arsenal
A tale of three Gabriels at Kenilworth Road, where Martinelli and Jesus scored for Arsenal either side of an excellent header from Osho.
Arsenal were the better team, of course they were, but Luton worked like beasts, put themselves about and picked their moments to attack. Cliche alert: the next goal is huge.
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45+3 min: Luton 1-2 Arsenal A corner is half cleared to Mengi, whose sweet long-range strike is well held by Raya.
45+2 min: Luton 1-2 Arsenal “May I ask, in all seriousness, why they bother with a quadrant at the corner flag,” says Damian Clarke. “Arsenal’s last corner wasn’t within a country mile of the lines. And don’t even start me on foul throws. Yours, a child of the 1970s.”
I’m avin oops. I used to think the same about corners but then I learned to stop worrying and love the word ‘curvature’.
45+1 min: Luton 1-2 Arsenal Jesus is booked for a cynical foul on Barkley.
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It was an easy finish, thanks mainly to a superb cross from Ben White, but it caps another razor-sharp performance from a rejuvinated Jesus. Saka played a nice return pass to White, who stood up a beautiful ball to the far post. Jesus arrived late in the six-yard box, hung in the air for an age and planted a header past Kaminski.
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Half time: Luton 1-2 Arsenal (Jesus 45)
Gabriel Jesus is so damn hot right now!
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44 min: Luton 1-1 Arsenal Barkley is booked for a foul on Martinelli. It’s fair to say Arsenal haven’t appreciated Luton’s physicality.
67 min: Wolves 1-0 Burnley: Brownhill sent off Still 1-0 at Molineux, where Hwang Hee-chan’s serene finish put the home team ahead just before half-time.
39 min: Luton 1-1 Arsenal: Good save by Kaminski! Saka crackles into the area from the right, teasing the backpedalling Bell. Then he shifts the ball quickly to the left and flashes a trademark curler towards the far corner. Kaminski dives to his right to make an excellent save.
Adebayo heads the resulting corner onto his own hand, thus negating any penalty appeal.
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37 min: Luton 1-1 Arsenal “I’m sorry you missed the celebrity streak at Kenilworth Rd on minute 19, Rob,” says Justin Kavanagh. “Quite the spectacle. Come to think of it, perhaps why the feed was cut!”
So that’s what Luton’s finest is up to these days.
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36 min: Luton 1-1 Arsenal Luton are working so hard defensively and have restricted Arsenal to maybe one and a half chances. It’s a fascinating struggle, the kind of game most of the Arsenal players will have never experienced before.
35 min: Luton 1-1 Arsenal “Today is Ross Barkley’s 30th birthday,” says Matt Burtz. “His career at Everton started with such promise (his solo run and goal at Newcastle in 2014 remaining one of the best Everton goals I’ve ever seen), but his tenure ended acrimoniously with a contentious transfer to Chelsea, and he now finds himself at Luton after a year in France. There’s still a talented player in there somewhere. I wouldn’t exactly call it a fall from grace, but I’m sure it wasn’t what he envisioned ten years ago either.”
No. It’s not as sad a story as, say, Billy Kenny but it’s certainly one of unfulfilled potential. There are gazillions dotted throughout football history.
33 min: Luton 1-1 Arsenal Brown is booked for a poor tackle on Gabriel.
32 min: Luton 1-1 Arsenal Martinelli runs onto a square pass from Jesus, who looks really sharp, in the penalty area. He takes a touch and hits an early shot that is excellently saved by Kaminski, diving to his right at the near post.
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31 min: Luton 1-1 Arsenal Jesus goes down holding his face after being caught by Bell (I think). Luton, as expected, are making life pretty uncomfortable for Arsenal.
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27 min: Luton 1-1 Arsenal This is getting lively. Odegaard, on the edge of the area, plays a short pass down the side of the defence for Jesus, whose fierce shot from a tight angle is forced round the near post by Kaminski.
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Luton are level through a textbook set-piece. Doughty’s outswinging corner from the left was met by Gabriel Osho, who ran off Martinelli 10 yards from goal and powered a superb header past Raya.
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GOAL! Luton 1-1 Arsenal (Osho 25)
That’ll do!
23 min: Luton 0-1 Arsenal A half-chance for Jesus. Havertz’s deflected shot wasn’t fully cleared, and Jesus’s snapshot from 12 yards was straight at Kaminski.
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Bell’s overhit backpass was put out for a throw-in by Kaminski, who might have had time to keep the ball in play. Jesus took the throw quickly, releasing Saka in the area, and his cutback was screwed into the far corner by Martinelli. Avoidable though the goal was from Luton’s perspective, Arsenal’s front three were so sharp. Saka’s run off Doughty was superb.
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GOAL! Luton 0-1 Arsenal (Martinelli 20)
Erm, there’s been a shot on target now.
19 min: Luton 0-0 Arsenal Between us – please don’t tell the others – I lost the feed for 3-4 minutes. I don’t think we’ve missed anything though, and there have been precisely no shots on target. Luton are making the pitch very small.
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14 min: Luton 0-0 Arsenal Barkley threads a promising pass into the area towards Adebayo. Saliba walks across and calmly shepherds the ball behind for a goalkick.
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13 min: Luton 0-0 Arsenal “Lahm won the treble and then the World Cup (as captain) at ages 30-31,” says Zach Neeley. “I feel like that would be the optimal age, still young enough to celebrate excessively but old enough to fully appreciate it. As far as this game goes, I’m curious what you thought of Trossard as the third midfielder for Arsenal against Wolves, it seems like an interesting alternative to the more offensive (Havertz) vs defensive (Jorginho) back and forth. I guess the most important part is that whoever is the third, they get to play alongside Odegaard and Rice.”
I have even less to offer than usual as I didn’t see the game. But it’s not the first time, is it? He seems fine as a No8 in games where you expect to have lots of the ball, particularly at home. If tonight’s game was at the Emirates he may well have played, but Havertz’s extra height is useful for defending set-pieces.
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12 min: Luton 0-0 Arsenal Luton are doing okay, though the home crowd are unhappy with a couple of decisions against them. Both looked like clear fouls in truth.
8 min: Luton 0-0 Arsenal Martinelli is back on, though he’s still moving a little gingerly. Arsenal are having loads of the ball as you’d expect, though Thomas Kaminski’s gloves remain unsullied.
5 min: Luton 0-0 Arsenal Martinelli stays down after getting a knee in the back from Mengi. It wasn’t vicious, but I bet it bloody well hurt. Martinelli is struggling to limp to the sideline to receive more treatment.
Half time: Wolves 1-0 Burnley
Burnley give the ball away... Hwang Hee-chan pounces and shows superb composure! Wolves have the lead in a flash 💥🐺#PLonPrime #WOLBUR pic.twitter.com/XLryRKxLpf
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) December 5, 2023
4 min: Luton 0-0 Arsenal “The heartening and reassuring thing about the discussion over Zinchenko’s defensive frailties – yes, he does try some misguided things in hazardous areas; agreed – is that it’s against the background of approval of his undoubted motivation and commitment to the Arsenal cause, tinged with sympathy for his position as a Ukrainian,” says Charles Antaki. “Compare that to the kind of opprobrium that a player like Mustafi used to attract, let alone the Willians this world. Arsenal are, as Mikel Arteta would no doubt say, in a good moment, if that’s the worst that people are worried about.”
Indeed. Tonight’s game is also a reminder of what happened to poor Gus Caesar.
1 min Peep peep! While Wolves were celebrating, Luton and Arsenal were kicking off at Kenilworth Road.
GOAL! Wolves 1-0 Burnley (Hwang 42)
Hwang Hee-chan gets his ninth goal of an increasingly good season. Burnley tried to play out from the back and got in the kind of pickle that never befell John Beck’s Cambridge. Sarabia and Cunha combined to find Hwang, who dummied Dara O’Shea and sidefooted the ball calmly past James Trafford. That’s a nice finish.
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“So, is Zinchenko the left-sided Alexander-Arnold?” says Joe Pearson. “A great asset going forward, a bit of a liability going backward.”
Well, nobody’s perfect. Apart from maybe Philipp Lahm.
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22 min: Wolves 0-0 Burnley It’s goalless at Molineux, where Burnley are growing in confidence. No shots on target yet though.
“Not sure Kiwior is a left-back, or even that good at centre-back, but Zinchenko has become defensively close to unplayable,” says Andrew Hurley. “Unplayable in the sense his manager can’t play him. If Timber was fit, I think Zinchenko would be fourth in line amongst the full-backs, behind Timber, Tomiyasu and White...”
Even with everything he gives you in midfield? I suppose it depends on the game; I’m sure if Tomiyasu was fit he’d be at left-back tonight.
1 min: Wolves 0-0 Burnley Peep peep! The first match of the night, and indeed the matchweek, is under way.
I know it was you, Fredo
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Luton v Arsenal team news
Rob Edwards makes four changes to his Luton side: Alfie Doughty, Andros Townsend, Jacob Brown and Elijah Adebayo come in for Tom Lockyer (injured), Tahith Chong, Chiedozie Ogbene and Carlton Morris.
Mikel Arteta has picked four centre-halves in his Arsenal team. There are three changes from the weekend win over Wolves: Ben White, Jakub Kiwior and Kai Havertz replace Takehiro Tomiyasu (injured), Oleksandr Zinchenko and Leandro Trossard.
Luton (3-4-2-1) Kaminski; Osho, Mengi, Bell; Kabore, Mpanzu, Barkley, Doughty; Townsend, Brown; Adebayo.
Substitutes: Krul, Ogbene, Berry, Morris, Chong, Clark, Giles, Johnson, Nelson.
Arsenal (4-1-2-3) Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior; Rice; Odegaard, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.
Substitutes: Ramsdale, Zinchenko, Cedric, Walters, Elneny, Jorginho, Trossard, Nelson, Nketiah.
Referee Sam Barrott.
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Pre-match entertainment
Wolves v Burnley team news
Luton v Arsenal is one of two matches tonight. We’ll also have goal updates from Wolves v Burnley, which kicks off at 7.30pm. You’ll be wanting team news for that one I suppose.
Gary O’Neil makes four changes from Wolves’ defeat at the Emirates Stadium. Dan Bentley replaces Jose Sa in goal and there is a whole new central midfield. Joao Gomes and Mario Lemina return after suspension, with Pablo Sarabia also coming into the team. Boubacar Traore, Tommy Doyle and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde drop to the bench.
One change for Burnley from the side that plugged Sheffield United on Saturday. Hjalmar Ekdal comes in for the suspended Jordan Beyer at centre-back.
Wolves (possible 3-5-2) Bentley; Kilman, Dawson, Toti; Semedo, Gomes, Lemina, Sarabia, H Bueno; Hwang, Cunha.
Substitutes: King, Doherty, S Bueno, Traore, Silva, Kalajdzic, Doyle, Bellegarde, Chirews.
Burnley (possible 4-4-2) Trafford; Vitinho, O’Shea, Beyer, Taylor; Bruun Larsen, Berge, Brownhill, Koleosho; Rodriguez, Amdouni.
Substitutes: Muric, Gudmundsson, Redmond, Zaroury, Ramsey, Al-Dakhil, Tresor, Delcroix, Odobert.
Referee Jarred Gillett VAR Rob Jones.
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Preamble
You’re thinking about Gus Caesar, aren’t you? Andy Dibble? Brian Stein? Nigel Winterburn? Augustine Ashley Grimes? When Luton meet Arsenal it’s hard not to recall the 1988 Littlewoods Cup final, a classic match with enough drama and nuance to fill a 200-page book. (For now you’ll have to settle for a thousand evocative words from one of the Wembley ballboys.)
But Luton diehards, or unimpeachably neutral journalists who have spent the last half hour with their nose in a load of musty Rothmans, know that the history of this fixture goes beyond one extraordinary cup final. In modern times Luton have a very good home record against Arsenal. The list includes 4-0 and 6-3 wins in successive Christmas games in the late 1950s, a 3-0 stuffing in the FA Cup in 1985-86 – and, on 26 December 1991, a bruising 1-0 win against George Graham’s defending champions.
That was the last time Luton played Arsenal. The Premier League began the following season and the gap between English football’s haves and have-nots became a chasm. But even if Arsenal win as expected, they are unlikely to have a comfortable night. Luton are starting to make themselves at home in the Premier League, and Spurs and Liverpool will attest to the unique challenge of playing at Kenilworth Road. Those matches were during the daytime: the atmosphere for a night game, against the league leaders, is likely to be even more intense.
Not that Arsenal will shy away from the challenge. This is another chance to show they are tougher and more streetwise than last season – and to put more pressure on Manchester City and Liverpool, who visit Aston Villa and Sheffield United tomorrow.
It’s a bumper week of Premier League action, spread over three days, with all 10 games live in the UK. Anyone got any Gaviscon?
Kick off 8.15pm.
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