Rob Edwards predicted striker Elijah Adebayo has a “high ceiling” to what he can achieve after Luton’s hat-trick hero helped his side to a 4-0 win against Brighton at Kenilworth Road.
The 26-year-old has now scored eight goals in the Premier League this season, with Luton moving out of the bottom three for the first time in nearly two months following the victory.
Adebayo scored his first after just 19 seconds, getting there ahead of goalkeeper Jason Steele to reach Carlton Morris’s header back across goal to nod home.
Chiedozie Ogbene added a second less than two minutes later, beating Steele to the ball as both raced to meet Albert Sambi Lokonga’s ball over the top and sliding it in to cap a sensational opening.
Brighton fell further behind before the break when Adebayo grabbed his second, staying onside to receive Ross Barkley’s pass and lashing the ball inside the near post.
And Adebayo completed his hat-trick after 56 minutes, heading in from Alfie Doughty’s corner as Brighton’s defence did little more than stand and watch.
It was comfortably the Hatters’ best win since returning to the top flight, with Adebayo’s goals the difference.
“He’s become more reliable without the ball,” said Edwards.
“His work-rate has always been great but he’s seeing how important it is to press hard, press the goalkeeper, press his man. He does that tirelessly.
“He’s going to be really difficult to play against. He can defend set-pieces, he’s a threat in the six-yard box, because of his hold-up play and pressing and he’s scoring some goal goals.
“He’s progressing really well.
“He’s got a really high ceiling. If he stays focused and keeps working hard, he can go a long way and have a really good career.”
It was Luton’s third win in five league matches as their bid to survive in the top flight picked up more momentum ahead of Saturday’s trip to Newcastle.
“It’s still only three points,” said Edwards. “It’s good for our confidence and belief. Tonight will get more headlines because of who it was against.
“We were ruthless, and maybe we could have been more ruthless. I was still jumping around at 4-0 because we got a bit sloppy at times.
“We’ve got to keep our foot down. We’ve got to be at full-tilt every day, otherwise we’ve got no chance.”
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi reflected on a defeat for which his side must take collective responsibility.
“It’s difficult to explain,” he said. “We are all responsible for this defeat. It’s very tough to accept, to understand. But I think we can learn a lot from this day, this game.
“We have to remember very well this defeat. But in the same way we have to forget. They are all responsible, me first of all.
“We have to remember from where we started. We are Brighton, we are a good team, we have good players. But to show our qualities, we have to push every day.”
Nicholson fires Boyz to 1-0 win over Dom Rep but Hallgrimsson unimpressed with overall performance
A 16th minute strike by Shamar Nicholson proved the difference as Jamaica's senior Reggae Boyz edged Dominican Republic 1-0 to open their Concacaf World Cup qualifying account on a positive note at the National Stadium on Thursday.
Nicholson’s strike, his 17th international goal and third in World Cup qualifiers, highlighted an unsatisfactory evening for Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side, as the defence was at times vulnerable, while the wasteful attacking front was marred by a lack of composure and poor decision-making in the final third. This was much to the disappointment of the sizeable crowd which surprisingly turned out despite the early kickoff and rainfall.
Still, for Hallgrimsson, the most important outcome was securing the three points, which propelled the Boyz to second in Group E on three points, same as leaders Guatemala, who hammered Dominica 6-0 in their opening clash on Wednesday.
“We should have finished it off, but when you are winning 1-0, it's always uncomfortable because then it only needs a corner or a freekick and the ball goes in. So you never kind of feel relaxed, but we should have killed the game off with the chances we got. Apart from that, it (our performance) was below par, and we can do much better than we did today,” Hallgrimsson said in a post-game interview.
“But given a lot of these players are coming back from not playing, it was kind of given that some of them would not be ready for a competitive match right away. We can for sure improve from this performance, but the most important thing is that we got the win and we kept a clean sheet,” he added.
After a cagey start by both teams, the Jamaicans eventually showed some attacking intent in the 12th minute through the fleet-footed Renaldo Cephas, who utilised his pace to good effect to breach Dominican Republic's defence, but he couldn't get on target at that point.
Dominican Republic tried to play their game, through steady and penetrative build ups, and it was one of those attempts to open up in attack that allowed the Jamaicans to break the deadlock on the counter. This, as Cephas won possession on the break and left the last defender in his wake on his way into the 18-yard box where he played a pass across goal to Nicholson, who applied a cool finish beyond custodian Miguel Lloyd.
The Boyz tried to press the ascendancy from there, but were unable to make their dominance in possession count, as their star man Michail Antonio was subjected to heavy physical treatment throughout. In fact, the Jamaicans next best chance of the first half was courtesy of Bobby Reid's 33rd-minute freekick from just outside the 18-yard box, which went just wide of the left upright.
Much like they did at the start, both teams were again slow into rhythm on the resumption, as both lacked enterprise in their build ups, and as such, failed to create anything meaningful in the attacking third.
It was until the 72nd minute that the Jamaicans again came to life when Cephas’s blistering pace down the left channel forced Luiyi De Lucas to take fell him inside the danger area and gift the Jamaicans a penalty. However, Reid couldn't make the 12-yard kick count as his effort went at a decent height for Lloyd to parry.
Eight minutes later, Reid again unleashed Cephas, who had Deshane Beckford alongside him in a two-on-one counter, but the former selfishly hogged possession and inevitably had his tame effort blocked by the advancing Lloyd.
Though they continued to threatening in a sustained attacking spell in the latter stages of the contest, the Jamaicans were found wanting in the decision-making which robbed them of any real opportunity to add to their tally.
Hallgrimsson, obviously under no illusions, acknowledged some flaws that he hopes to address heading into Sunday’s encounter away to Dominica.
It should be placed in the context that the Icelandic coach was without a number of his first choice players –Demarai Gray, Amari’i Bell, Joel Latibeaudiere, Ethan Pinnock, Andre Blake and Dujuan Richards –due to injury, while Leon Bailey remains unavailable. Hence, the Boyz looked unimpressive.
“We were very slow. Everything that we did was low tempo. I think in the second half it got better, we created more chances with buildup play and creation, but in general, it was too slow for my taste. These strikers, for example, with all their individual quality, are not used to playing in a two striker formation,” Hallgrimsson reasoned.
“So we just need time to get them to sink a little bit better. But in general with the ball, we were not good. Slow tempo, even defending first half was slow tempo, so we gave them the time that they needed to be good. So I would just say we need to up the tempo in everything that we are doing. But you are correct, attacking decision-making is not good enough,” he noted.
Nagelsmann staying coy over Germany's final Euro 2024 squad
Julian Nagelsmann announced he has "basically" made a decision about his final Euro 2024 squad but would not be revealing it until Friday.
Germany face Greece in their final warm-up game on Friday before their home tournament, which they will kick off against Scotland on June 14.
Nagelsmann initially named a provisional squad of 27 and needs to reduce that by one, confirming the official 26-man group by Friday.
The former Bayern Munich manager conceded that places will still be up for grabs depending on performances against Greece but would not give any hints about whom the player likely to drop out would be.
"We have our starting 11 in our heads but the performance in the match and in training must fit," Nagelsmann told a press conference on Thursday.
"Overall, the squad decision has been taken, but I won't announce it, nor talk with those affected, because in the worst case, someone is injured tomorrow, and the player affected needs to slip back in, and it would be silly to have that chat now.
"The decision has basically been made. We'll announce it after the game tomorrow.
"The roles are clear. If Kai [Havertz] performs, he will have the edge. He has to perform. [Niclas Fullkrug] will get his playing time and will be able to score goals and cause a furore.
"Nothing is set in stone. You have to perform to get it set in stone."
One of those included in the preliminary squad is Bayern's Leroy Sane, who sustained a bone injury in May that kept him out of Germany's friendly draw with Ukraine on Monday.
Nagelsmann provided a positive update on the winger's availability, which could be a boost if he stays in the squad for the tournament.
"He is an option for tomorrow. He has done two training sessions," he added.
"However, we cannot calculate him in for 90 minutes of every match. He has found a good way when the tension is there [in his injury] to take it out."
Netherlands 4-0 Canada: Clinical Oranje dampen mood in Marsch's first game
Jesse Marsch's first game in charge of Canada ended in disappointment as the clinical Netherlands scored four second-half goals to win 4-0 on Thursday.
Both sides had good chances in a fairly even first half - Georginio Wijnaldum saw an effort cleared off the line, while Cyle Larin squandered a brilliant chance, sending it wide.
The Netherlands came out of the blocks quickly in the second half though, with Memphis Depay poking in five minutes after the restart before Jeremie Frimpong doubled their lead with a lovely curling effort.
Wout Weghorst made an instant impact off the bench as he latched onto Dayne St. Clair's spill, and fellow substitute Virgil van Dijk headed in late on to ensure an emphatic victory for the hosts.
The Netherlands' final friendly before Euro 2024 is against Iceland on Monday, while Canada travel to France for another warm-up before the start of the Copa America.
Data Debrief: Netherlands too strong in Rotterdam
Just five players have reached 25 goal involvements under a single manager for the Netherlands since 1978, with Depay's goal today moving him to 25 under Ronald Koeman.
In the first half, Oranje managed an xG of just 0.83 from their nine shots but improved on that after the break. Canada had no answers as the Netherlands hit four, creating an xG of 2.08 from their 11 efforts, eight of which were on target.
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