Luton Town are out of the FA Cup after a 2-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest in the Third Round.
A goal in each half did the trick for the Premier League hosts, with Ryan Yates and Roman Sosa doing the honours for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side against the Hatters in their first game after parting company with Rob Edwards earlier this week.
Defeat means Luton’s interest in the FA Cup is over for another season, despite the managerless Hatters giving a good account of themselves against a side they finished one place behind in the Premier League last season.
The match was a rematch of the 1959 FA Cup Final, which saw Forest beat Luton 2-1 at Wembley in May 1959. In more modern parlance, it saw Luton come up against a side that had finished in the place directly above them in last season’s Premier League, even if Forest stayed up by six points.
Luton were also facing their first contest without Edwards, who had left the club after a slump had seen the club fall into the bottom 6 of the Championship table.
A group of Mick Harford, Paul Trollope and Richie Kyle oversaw the Hatters, with the visitors picking a side that included a start for new signing Isaiah Jones the day after his arrival from Middlesbrough.
With the home side third in the Premier League after an unexpectedly strong first half of the season and facing a big clash against league leaders Liverpool on Tuesday, the hosts made 11 changes compared to Luton’s single alteration.
Luton had themselves a decent early opportunity as a drive by Liam Walsh had to be tipped over by home goalkeeper Carlos Miguel, before an effort from similar range by home skipper Yates hit the crossbar with Thomas Kaminski stranded.
Both sides came close in a competitive first half, with Jones just denied by Miguel after a mazy run before Kaminski made a close-range stop to deny Willy Boly at a set-piece.
A breakthrough would come Forest’s way with five minutes of normal time in the first half remaining, as Sosa’s cross picked out Yates to head past Kaminski and open the scoring for the home side.
The hosts came close to doubling their lead just after the break, but Taiyo Awoniyi’s shot was straight at Kaminski.
A tighter second half saw Luton still hopeful of getting back on terms, but those ambitions took a hit when Forest made it 2-0 with 22 minutes to play. A long pass released Jota Silva down the Forest right and he found Sosa, who nipped in ahead of his marker to tap in the home side’s second goal.
Luton had some opportunities for a goal back, with Tom Holmes having a header cleared off the line before Miguel denied visiting substitute Jacob Brown.
Forest sub Callum Hudson-Odoi flashed a shot over the top just after coming on, while Miguel would make another stop to thwart Carlton Morris after the ball fell the visiting skipper’s way.
But there was no way back for Luton, who are now out of the FA Cup for another season. Attention will return to their league duties next week, as the Hatters welcome Preston North End to Kenilworth Road.