Barnsley’s early season woes against Luton continued as they suffered their first competitive defeat inside 90minutes under Markus Schopp.
The Reds have faced the Hatters in either August or September in five of the last six seasons they have been in the same league, all at Oakwell and Luton have won all five (4-3 in August 2004, 2-1 in September 2006, 3-1 in August 2019, 1-0 in September 2020 and 1-0 in August 2021)
Luton have also been Barnsley’s first home league defeat in each of the past three seasons.
The only goal arrived after four minutes, the earliest Barnsley have conceded in 2021 and since Swansea’s Jamal Lowe scored after two minutes in December 2020 and the earliest at Oakwell since Preston’s Sean Maguire scored after two minutes the fixture before.
Luton though have scored three goals in the first four minutes of the game in two of their last three visits to Oakwell.
Barnsley have achieved each result in their first three league fixtures (W D L) for the second time in three seasons.
Barnsley have now won only one of the last six meetings with Luton, losing three and have lost each of the last three Oakwell meetings and six of the last eight.
Prior to this run they had won each of the last seven Oakwell clashes.
It is the first time Luton have won three successive games at Oakwell.
Barnsley had 70% possession, their most in a match since a League Cup tie against Carlisle in August 2019.
Barnsley Team:
40. Brad Collins
20. Toby Sibbick
30. Michal Helik
5. Liam Kitching
7. Callum Brittain
21. Romal Palmer
10. Josh Benson
4. Callum Styles
22. Clarke Oduor
9. Cauley Woodrow
28. Dominik Frieser
Substitutes:
44. Devante Cole (for Oduor 56)
29. Victor Adeboyejo (for Frieser 75)
24. Aapo Halme (for Palmer 90)
Unused Substitutes:
1. Jack Walton, 3. Ben Williams, 15. Jasper Moon, 25. George Miller
Luton Team:
12. Simon Sluga
20. Peter Kioso
15. Tom Lockyer
4. Kal Naismith
2. James Bree
17. Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu
23. Henri Lansbury
29. Amari’i Bell
26. Admiral Muskwe
35. Cameron Jerome
11. Elijah Adebayo
Substitutions:
7. Harry Cornick (for Jerome 69)
32. Gabriel Osho (for Lockyer 88)
6. Glen Rea (for Muskwe 90)
Unused Substitutes:
10. Elliot Lee, 14. Carlos Mendes Gomes, 21. Harry Isted, 22. Allan Campbell.
Luton manager Nathan Jones said:
"It's a difficult place to come, they are a difficult side, they cause you problems.
"It was a tight game, a difficult game, we worked and dug in late on.
"We had a tough lesson on Saturday but they have bounced back absolutely magnificently."
Sky Bet Championship results
TUESDAY 17TH AUGUST 2021
BARNSLEY (13th) 0–1 Luton Town (7th)
Bell 4
Blackpool (21st) 0-1 Coventry City (8th)
Gyokeres 45+2
Huddersfield Town (16th) 1-0 Preston North End (24th)
Van den Berg og 74
Millwall (19th) 1-2 Fulham (2nd)
Mitrovic 3
Carvalho 8
Afobe 87
Peterborough United (15th) 2-2 Cardiff City (9th)
Burrows 49
Dembele 51
Flint 83
Flint 90+6
Swansea City (20th) 1-3 Stoke City (5th)
Powell 15
Clucas 53
Ostigard 60
Piroe 73
Reading (17th) 2-3 Bristol City (11th)
Weimann 5
Martin 14
Azeez 19
Weimann 52
Moore 81
WEDNESDAY 18TH AUGUST 2021
Birmingham City (14th) 0-2 AFC Bournemouth (4th)
Solanke 77
Anthony 87
Hull City (18th) 0-1 Derby County (12th)
Baldock 57
Middlesbrough (10th) 2-3 Queens Park Rangers (3rd)
Ikpeazu pen 7
Howson og 48
Dykes 56
Crooks 72
Willock 76
Nottingham Forest (23rd) 1-2 Blackburn Rovers (6th)
Ayala 47
Zinckernagel 69
Lenihan 86
West Bromwich Albion (1st) 4-0 Sheffield United (22nd)
Robinson og 26
O’Shea 47
Mowatt 53
Robinson 59
Barnsley lie in 13th place in the Sky Bet Championship with 4 points from 3 games. We are 3 points off the Play-Offs, 3 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 3 points off First Place and 3 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 19/8/21
Next Up:
On The Road:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Four: Queens Park Rangers v Barnsley, Saturday 21st August 2021. Kick-Off: 12:30pm
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Five: Barnsley v Birmingham City, Saturday 28th August 2021. Kick-Off: 3pm