Antoine Semenyo caps epic comeback as Luton fall apart at Bournemouth

A sensational second-half comeback from Bournemouth denied Luton the chance to move out of the relegation zone three months after Tom Lockyer, the Luton captain, had suffered a cardiac arrest in the original fixture.

It was an emotional evening in more ways than one for Lockyer, who was greeted before kick-off by both sets of supporters having been, in his words, “technically dead” for two minutes 40 seconds after collapsing on the pitch here in December. He watched his side surrender a three-goal lead after Tahith Chong, Chiedozie Ogbene and Ross Barkley had appeared to send them towards a comfortable victory that would have lifted them above Nottingham Forest on goal difference.

Yet, having been booed off at half-time, a stirring display from Andoni Iraola’s side allowed Dominic Solanke, Illia Zabarnyi and Antoine Semenyo to cancel out Luton’s advantage in the space of just 14 minutes before Semenyo sealed the victory with seven minutes remaining, meaning a dream start turned into a nightmare for Rob Edwards.

Solidarity between the two clubs was in evidence all around the Vitality Stadium 88 days on from Lockyer’s cardiac arrest, with the Bournemouth Supporters’ Trust having raised more than £2,000 to help with Luton fans’ travel costs for the rearranged match. The Luton captain admitted he was pleased to be able to express his gratitude to the first responders among Bournemouth’s medical staff who helped to save his life on the pitch before the match and he was greeted by a standing ovation from both sets of supporters. Lockyer, who said that becoming a father for the first time last week had put “a completely different perspective on everything”, looked touched as he took the applause.

Luton, who ended a five-match losing streak with a late equaliser against Crystal Palace on Saturday, had found themselves trailing to early goals after slow starts to each of their last three matches. This time, they made no such mistake as Chong rounded off a quick break downfield by nodding in Jordan Clark’s dinked cross in the ninth minute to the delight of the away supporters. Only Arsenal have scored more goals from headers this season than Luton’s 14 so far, with Lockyer joining in the celebrations in the main stand.

Bournemouth’s last win here in the Premier League came way back on Boxing Day during their purple patch and they created several chances in the first half after dominating possession but were wayward with their shooting. Luis Sinisterra finally tested Thomas Kaminski when he broke into the area but the Luton goalkeeper saved with his foot at the near post.

Dango Ouattara – deployed as a marauding left-back by Iraola but not the best in defence – then fired over from a decent position in what was to become a recurring theme. It then needed a heroic last-ditch tackle from Reece Burke to deny Semenyo a clear run on goal.

Yet Luton always looked menacing on the break and so it proved just after the half-hour mark when Chong and Alfie Doughty played a delightful one-two before the wing-back’s cross was tapped in at the far post by Ogbene, with Ouattara guilty of losing his man. Bournemouth continued to camp out in Luton’s half and Lewis Cook’s piledriver from long range forced Kaminski into action again but they were frustrated by dogged defending from a committed phalanx of white shirts.

It was another mistake from Ouattara that allowed Luton to score a third just before half-time after Issa Kaboré had relieved him of possession and burst down the field, before setting up Barkley to smash into the net. “Town are staying up” rang out from the buoyant visiting supporters as Bournemouth left the pitch to a chorus of boos.

Iraola’s response was to haul off Alex Scott and Sinisterra and the changes made an immediate difference. Solanke set himself up with a sublime backheel through the legs of Daiki Hashioka before curling past Kaminski to pull one back seconds before Semenyo fired over. Chong had the ball in the Bournemouth net again soon after Neto had saved from Carlton Morris but it was ruled out for offside.

A round of applause for Lockyer in the 59th minute – when the first match was abandoned with the scores level at 1-1 – was immaculately observed but Bournemouth’s fans found their voices when Zabarnyi forced home a second despite Doughty’s desperate attempts to clear off the line from a corner. Moments later they were in dreamland when Semenyo beat Kaminski at his near post to equalise and leave Edwards scratching his head.

The visitors looked like they had done enough to hang on for a point but Semenyo had the final say, linking up with the substitute Enes Unal to leave Luton distraught.