Luton 3 Arsenal 4: Declan Rice’s last-gasp header sends Gunners five points clear at top and saves Raya’s blushes
COMETH the hour, cometh the £105million man.
Declan Rice sparked scenes of mayhem with a 97th minute winner to send League leaders Arsenal five points clear at the top of the Premier League.
And the most expensive Englishman in history spared the blushes of keeper David Raya as the Gunners pulled off yet another extraordinary victory right at the death.
This was the fourth time this season that they have scored a winner in the last four minutes of a game.
Manchester United, Manchester City, Brentford and now Luton all know what it feels like to suffer a kick in the guts.
And those extra eight points could just prove to be the difference in the final run-in as Mikel Arteta’s men proved that they are willing to go right to the wire to get the job done.
Because for much of this game they were in serious danger of losing their way against a Luton team who looked anything but relegation candidates.
But then Rice forced his way ahead of Gabriel Osho to head home Martin Odegaard’s last ditch cross and leave the Hatters utterly devastated at the final whistle.
Not one member of this Arsenal squad was born the last time the club played Luton back in December 1991.
And even boss Arteta was still in nappies the last time they actually beat Luton almost 40 years ago.
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So despite Kenilworth Road being as close to Arsenal’s London Colney training ground as the Emirates, this was a real journey into the unknown for the leaders.
Yet the Gunners have become such formidable travellers over the past 18 months that no away game holds that much trepidation for them.
No team has won more Premier League games on the road since the beginning of last season and with the meanest defence in the country to back them up it’s no surprise that they have such a swagger about them.
So credit to Town boss Rob Edwards for refusing to pack his team with defenders and playing high up the pitch in spite of the threat of Arsenal’s attacking pace.
For 20 minutes they gave as good as they got as the visitors tried to establish their authority and quieten the boisterous crowd.
But then they were undone by a spell of schoolboy defending which would have had Edwards tearing his hair out.
Keeper Thomas Kaminski had plenty of time to deal with a straight- forward back-pass yet inexplicably decided to boot the ball straight into touch near his own corner flag. And even worse was to follow when Gabriel Jesus’ quick throw-in caught the entire Luton defence napping, allowing Bukayo Saka to cut back for Gabriel Martinelli to sweep home.
That was Saka’s 11th assist of the season as he celebrated his 200th appearance for the club in style.
And it was a goal which should have knocked the stuffing out of a Luton team who have been struggling at the wrong end of the table ever since winning last season’s promotion play-offs.
But they clearly weren’t ready to accept their role as sacrificial lambs to the slaughter and against all expectations were quickly all square again.
Alfie Doughty’s 25th minute corner was swung into a mass of players and centre-half Osho timed his jump perfectly to power an unstoppable header beyond the reach of Raya.
It was a well-deserved reward for their industry and determination not to be overawed by their superstar opponents whose central midfielder cost more than their entire first team squad.
But the task of keeping Arsenal at bay was gradually beginning to take its toll and both Jacob Brown and Ross Barkley were booked for poorly-timed challenges.
And just when the Hatters were beginning to think that they were about to reach the sanctuary of the half-time dressing room on level terms, their defensive limitations were exposed once again.
Odegaard’s cute pass sent Ben White scampering in behind to deliver a deep cross to the back post, where Jesus had drifted ahead of the static Issa Kabore to head in.
Remarkably, that was Arsenal’s 11th consecutive Premier League goal to be scored by a different player.
And with such a vast array of potential match winners, it is little surprise that Arteta is resisting calls to sign a 30-goals-a-season target man in the upcoming January transfer window.
But it doesn’t matter how many goals Arsenal score at one end if they continue to give them away as easily as they did here.
Four minutes into the second-half they were found wanting on another Doughty corner when Raya — who replaced Aaron Ramsdale as No 1 — came racing off his line but got nowhere near the ball as Elijah Adebayo headed home. And Arsenal’s Spanish keeper was even more culpable when Luton took the lead for the first time in the 57th minute when he dived straight over Barkley’s low shot from the corner of the penalty-area.
Yet Arsenal are nothing if not dogged and no sooner had they fallen behind than they were back level when Kai Havertz prodded in from close range after beating Kaminski in a race to Jesus’ 60th-minute pass.
And that was to prove the platform for Rice’s dramatic rescue act as Arsenal confirmed that they are not going away any time soon.
