Luton Town returned to winning ways as they beat Cardiff City 1-0 at Kenilworth Road.
A goal by Jacob Brown just before the hour mark decided the contest in the Hatters’ favour, as they picked up a first win in four matches and in the process jumped above Cardiff in the Championship league table.
The result also saw Luton climb out of the relegation zone, after results elsewhere had pushed Rob Edwards’ side into the bottom 3 before they took to the field on Wednesday night.
Cardiff had arrived on a run of six league games unbeaten that had turbocharged their season, while the Hatters arrived seeking a first win since beating rivals Watford last month.
The in-form Bluebirds would miss the first major opportunity, which came when Anwar El Ghazi headed wide.
Brown would later see a strike saved by Jak Alnwick, before the game entered a long lull.
Near the end of the half saw some more action, as first Carlton Morris saw a header from a cross creep over the top before Morris was booked for protests after disagreeing with the referee’s decision not to penalise away defender Calum Chambers for handball when a header across goal appeared to strike the Cardiff player’s hand.
Luton goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski was tested after the break, when the Belgian made a save to deny Yakou Meite’s looping header.
What turned out to be the winning goal came a few moments before the hour mark. Alfie Doughty’s corner picked out Brown, who saw his header beat Alnwick to open the scoring.
Cardiff nearly equalised in audacious fashion, as a speculative hit from David Turnbull from the kick-off after the Luton goal only cleared the crossbar by a few inches.
But despite there being half an hour of regular time plus ten minutes of stoppage time at the end, Cardiff’s comeback aspirations petered out, allowing Luton to take the points.
There was a moment of concern for the Hatters, however, as Doughty suffered an injury that required lengthy on-pitch treatment and was unable to finish the game.
Luton will seek to pick up back-to-back wins on Saturday, as the Hatters travel to play Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.