Town 1
Adebayo 84
Burnley 2
Foster 45+2
Larsen 85
Just when it seemed as though the Town would take a deserved point – or more after a spirited second half display – Burnley delivered a cold, harsh lesson in Premier League finishing to condemn Rob Edwards’ side to a gut-wrenching late defeat.
Trailing to Lyle Foster’s late first-half strike, the Hatters hauled themselves level after a period of sustained pressure thanks to substitute Elijah Adebayo’s trickery and cute finish with barely six minutes left on the clock.
With Rob Edwards signalling for the Town fans to suck in a winner, 65 seconds later the Clarets, searching for their first win of the campaign, restored their lead with a wonderful finish from a substitute of their own, Jacob Bruun Larsen.
It was harsh on the Hatters following a second half of domination and endeavour that conjured up a multitude of half-chances.
It came in stark contrast to a first 45 minutes that saw Burnley boss the majority of the ball, passing the Hatters to pieces at times.
Thomas Kaminski had been the busier of the two keepers – once tipping over a goalbound header from Zeki Amdouni – but it wasn’t until the second minute of added time at the end of the half when Foster struck, latching onto Sander Berge’s throughball and neatly tucking home.
Trailing at the break, the Town upped the ante in the second period. Plenty chances came and went as the Hatters worked the ball into the box, only to see a flurry of headers miss the target.
On 64 minutes one header did almost land in the Burnley net when Jacob Brown rose in the box to nod goalwards – but the Clarets’ Josh Cullen, anticipating the danger, headed off the line to safety.
Shouts for a Town penalty – when Carlton Morris went down in the box – moments later were waved away but you felt the Hatters’ pressure would tell at some point as they pinned the Clarets back.
And with six minutes left it did pay off when Adebayo turned neatly in the box to beat James Trafford to make it 1-1 with his first Premier League goal. All of a sudden hopes of a comeback victory were reignited.
Yet Burnley and Larsen had the final say a minute later, cutting inside and placing a wonderful left-foot strike into the top corner to leave the Town searching for their first home win of the campaign.
Unbeaten Tottenham are up next here on Saturday.
See you then.
Town: Kaminski; Kaboré (sub Adebayo 62), Doughty, Mengi, Lockyer, Bell (sub Burke 21); Nakamba, Mpanzu; Ogbene, Morris, Brown (sub Chong 69).
Subs not used: Krul, Andersen, Berry, Woodrow, Giles, Johnson.
Attendance: 10,918