Burnley extend lead at top with win at Luton

Championship leaders Burnley extended their lead at the top of the table to 11 points with a hard-fought win at play-off contenders Luton Town, who ended with 10 men.

Luton centre-back Tom Lockyer was then sent off for a second bookable offence, and the Clarets closed out the match for their 11th win in 12 league outings.

Elijah Adebayo had two good chances for the hosts in the first half, forcing Burnley goalkeeper Aro Muric into a save after 12 minutes and then side-footing a cross from Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu over the bar.

Burnley had scored a stoppage-time equaliser to salvage a point at home against Watford in midweek, and Vincent Kompany's side seem destined for an immediate return to the Premier League after extending their unbeaten run.

In a game of few clear chances, the Clarets only had one shot on target in the first half, with Johann Berg Gudmundsson's free-kick kept out by Hatters keeper Ethan Horvath on the half-hour mark.

The encounter remained a tight one in the second half as the visitors lost forward Nathan Tella, who has scored 14 goals in all competitions since joining on loan from Southampton last summer, to injury after an hour.

His replacement Vitinho, however, had an effort blocked by Lockyer and dragged wide of goal before winning the penalty which Barnes netted for his fourth goal of the campaign.

Hatters captain Lockyer was booked for complaining about the award of the spot-kick and was then shown a second yellow by referee Jeremy Simpson for continuing to argue his case while Burnley celebrated.

The 10 men of Luton failed to find an equaliser, with Mpanzu sending a pot-shot sailing over the bar, and remain in fourth place despite their first defeat in six Championship outings.

Burnley, meanwhile, are still 15 points ahead of the automatic promotion places following Middlesbrough's home win over QPR, but strengthen their title challenge after Sheffield United lost at Millwall in the early kick-off.

Luton manager Rob Edwards told BBC Three Counties Radio:

"I'm so proud of the lads putting on a performance like that after a tough night at Preston, a quick turnaround and then going up against comfortably the best team in the league.

"It was a penalty. We are human beings and there are going to be mistakes. There were very few out there as the lads gave everything and fought so hard.

"The lads were unbelievable with their energy and we had some quality as well.

"We limited a really top team to very few chances, and we could have done better in the one big moment that we had."

On the red card for Tom Lockyer: "It was high emotion out there with both teams desperate to win. He has maybe made a couple of errors in judgement but he has been fantastic for us since we came in the door."

Burnley boss Vincent Kompany told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"It was as tough as it gets but I get a lot of joy out of the result and the togetherness we showed out there.

"We knew Luton have a certain way of playing - they have got athleticism and intensity and it is the type of ground where it suits exactly what they want to do.

"For us it was a case of not being naive and playing the way that the game needed to be played.

"I take arguably more pride in this win than many other wins we have had this season. This type of game is not something that anyone at Burnley is afraid of - we embrace it."