Luton Town 1-1 Leeds United: Daniel Farke's side lose vital ground in Championship promotion battle as Dan James spares their blushes

It took lone 15 minutes successful Bedfordshire for the Luton supporters to statesman their archetypal rendition of ‘Leeds are falling isolated again’ and though their broadside couldn’t clasp onto the 3 points successful their bid for survival, they inflicted different immense stroke connected Leeds’ automatic promotion hopes.

Dan James equalised aft Isaiah Jones gave the location broadside an aboriginal pb but Daniel Farke’s broadside dropped much points and by the clip the afloat clip whistle went, Leeds were leapfrogged by Burnley into the automatic promotion spots.

With Sheffield United successful enactment aboriginal today, things could spell from atrocious to worse for Leeds, who person conscionable 7 points from their past imaginable 18.

Going into this lunchtime clash successful the outpouring sunshine, 21 places separated the 2 sides but for astir of the game, it was hard to fig which squad was successful the contention for the Premier League and which squad was bidding for Championship survival.

Matt Bloomfield’s Luton were superb and a constituent present made it conscionable 1 decision successful six for them arsenic they improved their prospects of escaping relegation. In fairness, this was the benignant of show that near you reasoning however they are adjacent successful a relegation battle.

For Leeds, this gully made it 1 triumph successful their past six since coming from down to bushed chap promotion chasers Sheffield United successful February.

Promotion looked each but a certainty that nighttime astatine Bramall Lane but Farke’s broadside are present flirting dangerously with the play-offs.

Just 60 miles from Kenilworth Road, Burnley’s comeback triumph astatine Coventry meant that Scott Parker’s broadside present person a two-point vantage connected them and with Leeds’s woeful grounds successful the play-offs, these are turning into hopeless times.

It isn’t retired of their hands yet, with Burnley and Sheffield United going head-to-head connected Easter Monday and Leeds arguably having the much favourable of run-ins but close now, they are struggling to triumph shot matches, careless of the opposition.

In the aftermath of their gully to Swansea past week, Farke rang successful the changes with Junior Firpo, Ao Tanaka and Willy Gnonto coming successful alongside Karl Darlow, who replaced Illan Meslier successful extremity aft the French keeper was dropped.

For Luton, Bloomfield made conscionable 1 alteration from the broadside that claimed a important triumph astatine Hull, with Jones coming successful for Reece Burke and it proved to beryllium an inspired call.

Leeds started strongly, with Thomas Kaminski forced to marque saves from Junior Firpo and Manor Solomon but conscionable 15 minutes in, Luton had the lead.

Elijah Adebayo did good down the near flank and played successful Jordan Clark, who recovered Jones with his transverse and the wing-back volleyed successful with aplomb from adjacent range.

The visitors deed backmost and levelled 13 minutes aboriginal done a infinitesimal of brilliance from Dan James, who picked up the shot connected the borderline of the container from a Leeds country and curled successful a fantastic left-footed onslaught past Kaminski.

Neither manager made immoderate changes astatine the interruption but 4 minutes into the 2nd half, Adebayo was forced disconnected owed to wounded and connected came Tahith Chong.

Thelo Asgaard past came adjacent to restoring Luton’s vantage but Darlow made a bully halt arsenic Luton sensed that Leeds were determination for the taking.

Such was the desperation and carnal quality of the contention that conscionable aft the hr mark, Farke threw connected Patrick Bamford, who hasn’t scored each season, successful spot of Gnonto for his archetypal quality since January aft a hamstring injury.

Bamford came adjacent to getting a victor erstwhile James recovered him connected the antagonistic but his effort was kept retired by Kaminski.

Leeds upped the urgency towards the second stages with James doing superbly to tee up Manor Solomon, who inexplicably blazed implicit from a fewer yards out.

Solomon sat connected the level successful disbelief. He couldn’t judge it and neither could the 1000 oregon truthful Leeds fans down the goal.

Their broadside fell isolated astatine the extremity of past play and unless they tin instrumentality to winning ways, past looks to beryllium repeating itself again.