An emotional day March 13th was, as it marked the replay of the AFC Bournemouth vs Luton Town clash that was previously terminated after Luton captain Tom Lockyer collapsed on the pitch on December 16th, 2023. It was a brand new football match and Lockyer was in the stands this time around to cheer on his Luton squad.
A massive chance for Luton to return home outside of the relegation zone. It was a winnable fixture in the eyes of Luton manager Rob Edwards even with the surplus of injuries Luton were facing. The three most notable being striker Elijah Adebayo, midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga and center back Gabe Osho. The Hatters had quite the start as Tahith Chong peeled away after netting a wide open header in the 9th minute to send Luton off and running. Luton not only controlled, but dominated the game throughout the first half.
Ross Barkley bossed the midfield while the back line held off multiple threats from speedy Bournemouth winger Luis Sinisterra. In the 31st minute Chiedozie Ogbene tallied the second Luton goal of the evening after a perfectly placed pass from Alfie Doughty. Surely this early push from Luton would will them out of the relegation zone, and that feeling was especially concrete after Ross Barkley sent a screamer past the Bournemouth goalkeeper in the first minute of extra time before the half to extend the lead to 3-0.
A dream half for Luton Town in a game in which losing would be detrimental to their season. As the teams trotted back out for the latter half, there was a different feeling around the Vitality stadium, one of belief. Dominic Solanke definitely felt the supporters presence and just five minutes into the second half he grabbed a goal back for Bournemouth.
A tremendous individual effort from Solanke where he had no room to maneuver but still found the goal anyway was enough to get the Bournemouth fans standing once again. A unified chant of “Twenty million down the drain, Dom Solanke scores again” rattled throughout the Vitality and there was an early and clear feeling of unease for the Hatters. It was the nightmare of all nightmares for Luton, except this one lasted just 15 minutes and then some. Just 12 minutes after the Solanke tally, the Ukrainian international Illia Zabarnyi managed to loop the ball in by just inches and in a matter of 12 minutes the Cherries were one goal down in a contest that seemed over from the start.
The celebration of the Zabarnyi goal was not even finished before Antoine Semenyo slotted the equalizer past Luton goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski in the 64th minute. A tie football match just 15 minutes after Solanke scored the first for Bournemouth.
The energy from the first half Luton side was depleted, The away end was completely soulless, and there was not an ounce of belief from the squad or the fans at this point in the match. It was pure cardio for Luton after the equalizer and the inevitable consensus ended up becoming true as Antoine Semenyo rounded out his evening by blasting the winner past Kaminski for just the 5th ever time in Premier League history a team has gone down by 3 and ended up winning the match.
It was history for Bournemouth at the Vitality stadium. “I haven’t been involved in a game like that before,” Semenyo said. “Even when we are down at halftime we know that man to man our game is about bravery. So in the second half whether we are down or up we are going to be pressing the same way. We know that we are going to have chances and second half today was amazing.”
From the opposition’s point of view, it was a detrimental loss and from a game where they had complete control makes it even more disappointing for the fans. You may never see a football match with a more drastic momentum swing than this one. The Premier League once again writes a tremendous story, this time in Bournemouth.