Luton Town 4-0 Brighton: Adebayo grabs a hat-trick as Hatters thrash Seagulls to move out of the relegation zone
Luton Town defeated Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0 to move out of the Premier League relegation zone, with Elijah Adebayo scoring a hat-trick after the Hatters went two goals up in the first three minutes at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday.
Adebayo opened the scoring with a close-range header after 18 seconds, and speedy winger Chiedozie Ogbene beat the offside trap two minutes and 17 seconds later to make it 2-0.
Adebayo scored his second goal of the night at the near post in the 42nd minute, thanks to a pass from Ross Barkley, before completing his first top-flight treble in the 56th minute with a header from an Alfie Doughty flicked corner.
Only Leicester City had reached 2-0 in the first two minutes of a Premier League match faster than Luton, against Derby County in 1998, who began the season as favourites to return to the second tier.
"It's a wonderful feeling...we said we needed to start sharp and two goals in two minutes was the right way to start," Adebayo, who came off in the 71st minute, told Sky Sports television.
"We just kept our foot on the gas. When you come here it's tough, especially under the lights and the fans make it a fortress for us."
The defeat dropped Brighton to eighth place, level on 32 points with ninth-placed Manchester United, while Luton moved up one spot to 17th, one point ahead of Everton, who drew 0-0 at Fulham.
Happy Luton fans left the ground singing, "The Hatters are staying up!"
The home team could have scored more with their highly physical game, but Jordan Clark was called offside with the ball in the net early in the second half.
Brighton appeared out of ideas, with no shots on goal until late in the second half, as a rampant Luton ripped up the script.
The Hatters, who were defeated 4-1 at Brighton in their first Premier League game after promotion, exacted their revenge in style.
"Delighted for Eli. He deserves it because of his work rate and his all round game...with his link-up play as well now, he's becoming a real threat and bringing other people into play," said manager Rob Edwards.
"It was a team performance tonight. We're incredibly aggressive when we press...and our defenders deserve a lot of credit."
Before kickoff, Luton captain Tom Lockyer, who had suffered a cardiac arrest during a match the previous month, walked around the pitch saluting the applauding crowd.
"Locks was in yesterday (at the training ground) and you can tell straight away that it gave everyone a lift," said Adebayo. "And then he comes in today...and the gaffer said just go and play how he would which is brave, desire, character."
"We want to just keep showing and proving to people that we can compete at this level."
Adebayo became the first Luton player to score a Premier League hat-trick, and the first in the top division since Lars Elstrup against Norwich City in September 1990.
SportsLigue