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• Luton Town 1-1 Everton: Hatters squander opportunity to climb out of relegation zone

  Luton Town missed an inviting chance to escape the Premier League's bottom three after Friday's hard-fought 1-1 draw with Everton at Kenilworth Road.

  Rob Edwards' side would have leapfrogged 17th-placed Nottingham Forest – who visit Sheffield United on Saturday – with a victory, but were instead left level on points with Nuno Espirito Santo's team.

  The fit-again Elijah Adebayo cancelled out Dominic Calvert-Lewin's 24th-minute penalty in an entertaining first half, though neither side could find a winner in an end-to-end second period.

  Despite an encouraging performance, Luton – who almost snatched a late victory – stay 18th and below Forest on goal difference, while Everton remain 15th in the table.

  A tense opening offered few opportunities as Dwight McNeil's left-wing cross deflected off Teden Mengi and forced Thomas Kaminski into a smart reflex stop, but Everton hit the front soon after.

  VAR David Coote recommended a pitch-side review before referee Tim Robinson awarded a penalty for a needless Mengi pull on Jarrad Branthwaite's shirt from McNeil's corner, with Calvert-Lewin squeezing his spot-kick under Kaminski.

  Yet Luton responded after 31 minutes when Adebayo ushered Ashley Young out of the way from Albert Sambi Lokonga's hanging delivery before swivelling to finish into the bottom-left corner.

  Clear-cut chances remained sparse before Carlton Morris' looping header from Alfie Doughty's pinpoint back-post delivery was headed off the line by Ben Godfrey on the stroke of half-time.

  Gabriel Osho curled a bending effort narrowly wide of Jordan Pickford's left-hand post shortly after the interval, while former Toffee Ross Barkley headed over from Tahith Chong's left-wing centre.

  Jack Harrison's deflected effort almost caught Luton off-guard, though, as Kaminski produced an eye-catching stop before denying a thumping Calvert-Lewin header.

  Luton laid siege to Everton's area in stoppage time, but the Toffees clung on, Pickford turning Luke Berry's header wide before a heroic Branthwaite block denied Andros Townsend a last-gasp winner against his former club. 

  Luton entertain without victory

  Prior to Friday's match, Luton had won just one of their last 14 Premier League games (three draws, 10 defeats), with no side picking up fewer points than the Hatters since the start of this run (six).

  Edwards' winless misery was further compounded when Mengi's mindless foul on Branthwaite afforded Everton their opener, yet Luton responded to keep their hopes of Premier League safety alive and cement their status among the competition's entertainers.

  Luton have both scored and conceded in 29 of their 36 Premier League games this season, a joint-record by any side in a single campaign in the competition, along with Swindon Town in 1993-94 and Southampton in 1994-95.

  Everton not resting on laurels

  Everton could have been forgiven for letting this game pass them by, having already secured their top-flight status with three straight victories over Forest, Liverpool and Brentford.

  Yet the Toffees started well and were good value for their lead as Calvert-Lewin scored his fourth goal in his last five Premier League appearances, as many as he managed in his previous 38.

  Some disappointing defending for Adebayo's leveller may frustrate Sean Dyche, but his side still made it four games unbeaten since their 6-0 hammering at Chelsea in the middle of April.

• Everyone wants to beat Leverkusen, says Alonso ahead of Frankfurt clash

  Bayer Leverkusen continue to edge towards a remarkable unbeaten season and Xabi Alonso acknowledged every club wants to put that run to an end.

  The newly-crowned Bundesliga champions moved a step closer to a treble after beating Roma 2-0 away in their Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday.

  Alonso's side have also reached the DFB-Pokal final against Kaiserslautern as their extraordinary 47-game unbeaten run continues across all competitions.

  Leverkusen, who ended Bayern Munich's 11-year stranglehold on the Bundesliga title to secure their first trophy since 1993, travel to sixth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.

  "We want to stay unbeaten and we know every week it gets tougher. Everyone wants to beat us," Alonso told reporters.

  "It hasn't been easy in Frankfurt in recent years, they've always a tough opponent with a flexible system of play. We don't have much time to prepare."

  The 42-year-old Spaniard will be watching the Frankfurt game from the stands after receiving his fourth yellow card of the season during his side's 2-2 home draw with Stuttgart last week.

  "You can see the game better from the stands and I can communicate with the bench," he said.

  "I will miss the direct contact with the team during the game but the players are intelligent enough to decide situations individually on the pitch."

• Ricketts congratulates 'Bunny' Shaw on FWA Women's Player of the Year award

  Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president Michael Ricketts saluted Reggae Girl and Manchester City striker Khadija “Bunny” Shaw on her latest accomplishment of being voted the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) Women’s Player of the Year for the 2023-24 season.

  Shaw won the women’s Footballer of the Year award with 80 per cent of the voters opting for either the Manchester City striker or Chelsea’s Lauren James. James finished runner-up with another Manchester City standout Alex Greenwood finishing third. Yui Hasegawa, Elisabeth Terland and Khiara Keating completed the top six.

  In a release on Friday, Ricketts pointed out that the award spoke volumes of Shaw's impact on Manchester City's Women's Super League charge, as she has been a model of consistency since joining the Gareth Taylor-coached club in 2021. Her performances have placed Manchester City on the brink of securing their first WSL title since 2016.

  “This award is a beautiful feather in her cap and a massive advertisement for Jamaica’s football,” Ricketts said.

   

  “I am happy to see the consistency in quality shown by Khadija. She has always been a top player, but her standard has risen a notch this season. This augurs well for the national team in the future. We wish her all the best on the road to recovery,” he added.

  Prior to Shaw sustaining a broken foot during her last Women’s Super League match against West Ham, the Reggae Girls captain scored 21 goals, which were complemented by three assists in 18 games this season.

  Shaw is the third Jamaican-born individual to have won the award after John Barnes (1987-88, 1989-90) and Raheem Sterling in 2019.

  However, she is the first national representative to receive the honour, as both Barnes and Sterling were England internationals when they earned the recognition.