Substitute Elijah Adebayo struck a stoppage-time equaliser as Luton fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
Chris Wood’s second-half double appeared to have set Forest on their way to a third league win of the season but Chiedozie Ogbene fired Luton a late lifeline and Adebayo rescued them a point in the second minute of added time.
New Zealand striker Wood could have easily ended up with a hat-trick as he went close with two other headers while Luton’s Jacob Brown spurned a golden chance to equalise for the visitors when they trailed 1-0.
Forest forced the early pressure as Wood’s early volley was held by Luton goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski and Ibrahim Sangare headed narrowly over.
Luton responded through Ogbene’s low cross, which narrowly evaded team-mates Carlton Morris and Brown.
Morris fired a low shot wide as Luton made their intentions clear by committing men forward on the counter before another first-time effort from Wood deflected off Luton defender Teden Mengi for a corner.
Luton’s former Manchester United forward Tahith Chong’s shot from outside the box was comfortably saved by Forest goalkeeper Matt Turner and Wood failed to get his header on target from Serge Aurier’s cross.
Forest went close again on the stroke of half-time when Sangare somehow missed the target from Morgan Gibbs-White’s low ball across the six-yard box.
But the home side broke the deadlock three minutes into the second period. Anthony Elanga threaded a neat through-ball into Wood’s path and the striker provided an emphatic left-footed finish.
Wood should have made it 2-0 moments later when he headed Aurier’s excellent cross inches over before Luton spurned a golden chance to equalise, with Brown heading tamely at Turner from six yards.
Wood appeared to have sealed the points for Steve Cooper’s side with a fine header from Elanga’s pin-point, in-swinging cross with 14 minutes remaining.
But the Hatters refused to lie down. Their appeals for a penalty as Morris went down inside the box were dashed by VAR before Ogbene lashed home a volley from eight yards, which stood after another VAR check.
Still the visitors were not finished.
Tom Lockyer launched a long ball into Forest’s penalty area and Adebayo took it superbly on his chest before firing home to haul his side level in the second minute of added time.
Klopp's assistant Lijnders to take charge at Salzburg
Jurgen Klopp's long-time assistant Pep Lijnders has agreed to take over at Salzburg, the Austrian club and Liverpool have confirmed.
Lijnders joined the Reds in 2014 as under-16s coach, before he became first-team development coach a year later.
Initially working under Brendan Rodgers, Lijnders has played a key role in Klopp's staff since the German took over at Anfield in October 2015.
It was confirmed in January that Lijnders would join Klopp in leaving Liverpool, and the Dutchman will now take a step into management, having agreed a three-year deal with Salzburg.
"I am very proud to become the new head coach of Salzburg," said Lijnders.
"This is a real privilege for me. After PSV, Porto and Liverpool, I am now moving to another exceptional club with a really good structure and a particular focus on youth development.
"I want to develop a mentality with the team that places a lot of emphasis on an attacking style of play and where passion and hunger for success are the basis of everything.
"My family has visited the city before and was overwhelmed by its beauty and the friendliness of the people. That was the last and important step for me in choosing Salzburg."
This is Lijnders' second managerial position, after a brief spell at NEC Nijmegen.
Lijnders will be joined by another of Liverpool's backroom staff, Vitor Matos, who will serve as his assistant. They are replacing Gerhard Struber, who was dismissed in April by 17-time Austrian champions Salzburg.
The duo, along with Klopp and the rest of his staff, will celebrate the end of their glorious Liverpool tenure when the Reds take on Wolves at Anfield on Sunday.
D.C. United v New York Red Bulls: Lesesne fortunate to work with 'incredible' Benteke
D.C. United coach Troy Lesesne feels fortunate to work with Christian Benteke, who is battling the likes of Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi for the MLS Golden Boot after a flying start to 2024.
Benteke has been in incredible form this year, scoring 11 goals in 10 MLS appearances to join Suarez and Cristian Arango at the top of the scoring charts, with Messi one behind that trio.
The former Liverpool and Aston Villa man scored a hat-trick of headers last time out, helping D.C. recover from behind for a 3-2 win over Atlanta United.
With Lesesne's former employers the New York Red Bulls visiting Audi Field on Wednesday, the D.C. boss will be hoping for more of the same.
"He's incredible," Lesesne said of Benteke. "He's got two hat-tricks this year, he's on 11 goals now and he's just such an incredible presence in our team, even beyond scoring.
"He deserves to be talked about first. He is a handful, and he allows other players to come into the match and have dangerous opportunities themselves. I'm very lucky to work with him."
Benteke's form has helped put D.C. in the playoff picture early on this campaign, but the Red Bulls are three points clear of them, sitting third in the Eastern Conference.
They also came out on top in a thriller last week, with two late goals helping them overcome the New England Revolution 4-2.
One of their goalscorers, Elias Manoel, says the Red Bulls' ability to pick up results when not at their best will take them far this term.
"It was really important to keep the consistency because even though we had some unfavourable results, in some games we didn't lose as well," Manoel said.
"This consistency is going to be really good at the end of the competition."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
D.C. United – Christian Benteke
Against Atlanta last week, Benteke became just the second player since 2010 to score three headed goals in a single MLS game, alongside the Five Stripes' Juan Purata in 2022 (versus Toronto FC).
New York Red Bulls – Elias Manoel
Manoel recorded both a goal and an assist as a substitute in New York's win over the Revolution last week.
He joined Cameron Harper and Bradley Wright-Phillips as the only Red Bulls players over the last 10 seasons to come off the bench and record both a goal and assist. Will he be rewarded with a start?
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
This will be the 107th meeting between D.C. and the Red Bulls in all competitions – it is the most-played match between two MLS teams. The Red Bulls, winners of the last three meetings, have never won four straight against D.C.
D.C. have gone unbeaten through their last three games, winning two and drawing one, while scoring multiple goals in each match. An entertaining draw could be on the cards here…
The Red Bulls are coming off a 4-2 win over New England in which they only had 33.1 per cent of possession. They have had four games with less than a third of possession and four or more goals in the last three seasons, more than every other MLS team combined.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
D.C. United – 39.1%
New York Red Bulls – 32%
Draw – 28.9%
Emery revels in 'special day' as Villa seal Champions League qualification
Unai Emery says Aston Villa have achieved their dream after qualification for next season's Champions League was secured.
Tottenham's 2-0 defeat to Manchester City on Tuesday left Ange Postecoglou's fifth-place side five points behind Villa, who subsequently sealed a fourth-place finish with a game to spare.
More importantly, the Villans are back in UEFA's premier club competition for the first time since the 1982-83 season, when they suffered European Cup quarter-final elimination to Juventus.
Additionally, the club secured their highest top-flight finish since the 1995-96 campaign, which they also ended in fourth place.
Emery, whose side reached this season's Europa Conference League semi-finals, now has his sights set on Europe's top prize next season, in which he is demanding even more from his players.
"It's a very special day," the Spaniard told Villa's official media channels. "It was our dream when we started the season to be here. To play Champions League is, after the Premier League, the best.
"You can play in the Premier League against the best teams in the world, it's very difficult. When you are playing in the Champions League, you are playing against the best teams, at the same time, from other countries. And it's amazing.
"We know the history of Aston Villa is so long and so successful. Even in the Champions League, we knew the responsibility was to try to increase our level, try to be demanding and to dream.
"I want to enjoy more and, next year, the new challenge starts for us. To build a team again, and be strong to go and always increase our level; this is our objective."
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