Luton 1-5 Brentford: Yoane Wissa scores first-half brace as Rob Edwards’ relegation-threatened side suffer heavy defeat

If Brentford were lousy in beating Sheffield United for their first win since January, they were anything but at Luton on Saturday to pick up successive wins for the first time since November.

Very often this season, Bryan Mbeumo has proven the answer to Brentford’s threat in the absence of Ivan Toney, and in the 5-1 defeat at Kenilworth Road his three assists made the old adage about London buses come true to persist.

Yoane Wissa was lethal for his first-half brace and deserves plenty of plaudits for his role in stamping out the creeping tendrils of relegation, but Mbeumo was brilliant value in his role as tormentor-in-chief.

This side of the Hatters inspires so many romantic notions of plucky underdogs, but Rob Edwards and Co. are quickly running out of opportunities to write the most impressive chapter yet in what is already a fairy tale of epic proportions.

Otherwise the chants will continue to persist, and with two more games to play here you’ll almost find yourself believing them, but the repeat performances in Saturday’s 5-1 mauling by Brentford do not inspire the greatest confidence.

Wissa opened the scoring at Kenilworth Road when he managed to find the net in the 24th minute.

Wissa added to Brentford’s lead in first-half stoppage time to cause Luton more problems

The Bees were at their offensive best in the first half, securing a first road win for a newly promoted side this season at half-time thanks to Mbeumo and Wissa.

The visitors flew away, with Ethan Pinnock and Keane Lewis-Potter both going close in an electric eight minutes for Brentford, while Alfie Doughty stung Mark Flekken’s palms in a quick fightback for the hosts.

Albert Sambi Lokonga, on loan from Arsenal, was Luton’s beating heart throughout, his ability to break lines in transition with deceptive and seemingly effortless ease, but the Bees remained the dominant force in the early stages.

Having already missed a golden opportunity, Lewis-Potter then saw a close range header saved by Thomas Kaminski before the hosts frantically cleared from the following corner. If they were already knocking on the door, Brentford had now turned to hammering.

And it quickly paid off. Luton ignored their warnings and, in the 24th minute, Wissa had the ball in the back of the net with a first-time shot curling from the edge of the area past a sprawling Kaminski to take a deserved lead.

The Bees, inspired by Mbeumo, kept Luton under heavy siege with Kristoffer Ajer going close for the third within half an hour with a towering header from a corner.

To make matters worse, Luton lost Issa Kabore in the 32nd minute to injury, and the barrage only continued. Mbeumo was denied a second for Brentford by the crossbar, but his hard work soon paid off.

The Cameroonian star fed Wissa again for his 10th of the season, his strike partner scoring one of the most disjointed goals he has ever scored in added time of perhaps the most dominant half that Brentford have had the whole season.

Luton were left depressed, defeat saw them remain in the relegation zone

Ethan Pinnock celebrates after his 62nd minute goal added to Brentford’s lead

Keane Lewis-Potter got on the scoresheet shortly after to make it 4-0 against Brentford

A half-time change saw Luton return to a back four and they looked defensively more resolute immediately after the break – at least for the first 17 minutes before a two-minute double-header against the Hatters.

The visitors had lost some of their rhythm since the first half, but Pinnock restored their dominance with a flying header from a Sergio Reguilon corner in the 62nd minute, before Lewis-Potter converted a third assist from the afternoon for Mbeumo at the far post. there were four, and the visitors didn’t seem to want to end the day any time soon.

Mbeumo continued to push for the goal he so deserved, twisting and weaving his way into a shooting position on the right of the area, but his strike lacked the venom needed to escape Kaminski who was well to his left .

Mbeumo – who else – was heavily involved in the eventual fifth, playing with Vitaliy Janelt who simply sent the ball into the acres of space to his left for Kevin Schade to score in the 86th minute into the empty net, but it was the hosts who had the last laugh.

Carlton Morris charged in a loose pass on the edge of the area before rounding Flekken and feeding Luke Berry who tapped home to elicit an always impressive early roar of the equalizer from the Kenilworth Road faithful.

Kevin Schade, who came on as a substitute, scored Brentford’s fifth goal against Luton

Luke Berry scored a late consolation goal for Luton in their 5-1 defeat to Brentford

Luton manager Rob Edwards left depressed as his side suffered heavy defeat