Luton Town were beaten 2-1 by early league leaders Sunderland in the Championship.

Chris Rigg put Sunderland ahead ten minutes after half-time, before Luton equalised through Elijah Adebayo.

However, Romaine Mundle struck a winning goal three minutes after Adebayo’s equaliser to win the game for the Black Cats, while Luton missed out on the chance to make it back-to-back home wins after they beat Watford in their previous outing.

The result means Luton now sit 19th in the Championship table, with the side from Kenilworth Road now 8 points off the play-offs.

A busy first half would see both sides come close but neither find the net, with Thomas Kaminski denying Dan Neil in the early stages before Victor Moses and Jobe Bellingham exchanged off-target strikes at either end.

Mark McGuinness would see a header just clear the bar via a deflection via a corner before a moment of controversy came in the final stages of the half.

Luton thought they had the lead when Alfie Doughty’s corner was flicked on to Carlton Morris, who tapped in from close range. But the call from the assistant referee was offside, ruling out the goal despite TV replays hinting Morris had been on when Daiki Hashioka flicked the initial corner on.

Patterson denied Adebayo’s header shortly after the restart, but although Luton started the second half brighter, they fell behind within ten minutes of the restart.

Tahith Chong was only able to prod the ball back towards his own goal, and young striker Rigg duly took it on, escaped multiple Luton defenders and Kaminski and duly tucked the ball home.

But Luton responded by equalising less than ten minutes later. Adebayo scored his first of the season as the striker headed in Morris’ ball across the face from a free-kick.

Rob Edwards’ side had hoped to push on to try and take the lead, but they were level for just three minutes before falling behind again.

Luton thought they should’ve had a free-kick awarded when Chong lost the ball, but the referee ruled otherwise. Sunderland duly quickly worked the ball forward and when it came for Mundle, he duly cut inside and dispatched a firm strike out of Kaminski’s reach.

The best chance the hosts worked for an equaliser fell the way of Doughty, who was denied by Patterson a few moments after the second Sunderland goal.

But only a few half-chances came and went the host’s way, as Sunderland ultimately ground out a win that sees them open up a slight lead on Burnley at the top of the second tier table.