Son scores a late winner as injury-hit Luton are cruelly defeated at Spurs

Luton's bad luck in their attempts to remain a Premier League side this season shows absolutely no signs of ending as they once more conceded late on and suffered three further injuries to lose 2-1 at Tottenham Hotspur this afternoon.

As in their last away game at AFC Bournemouth, the Hatters held the lead at half time, Tahith Chong making it 18 top flight games in a row that Town had found the net in. However, they then lost Reece Burke at the break, before Chong and Alfie Doughty followed him off, as Spurs hit back through an Issa Kabore own goal, Heung-Min Son scoring the winner with four minutes to go.

Town brought in former Tottenham winger Andros Townsend and Luke Berry for his first top flight start, with Jordan Clark dropping the bench and Chiedozie Ogbene injured, while Fred Onyedinma was involved in a match-day squad for the first time since the Championship play-off final victory. Such is their character and fighting spirit, the Hatters made the perfect start, ahead after just three minutes.

Townsend was able to nick the ball away from Son and set off on an adventurous burst up the right, eventually finding Ross Barkley who in turned picked out Chong, the midfielder scoring a third goal in five games with real aplomb. Spurs looked to hit back quickly, Pape Matar Sarr heading a cross wide, while Thomas Kaminski was out to grab the ball ahead of Dejan Kulusevski after a good move through the middle.

Ange Postecoglou's team should have been level on 15 minutes, Kulusevski releasing Timo Werner on the left and he was able to advance into the box , turn Kabore inside and out but then having done the hard work, dragging off target with just Kaminski to beat. Luton looked for a second themselves, Burke of all people finding himself on the byline and his cross was just nicked away from Carlton Morris by the covering James Maddison.

With 20 minutes gone, Luton were somehow not pegged back, when Son got away from the Town defence and rounded Kaminski, his shot hitting the near post, run across the line and then hit the far post before bouncing out. Still the danger wasn't clear though, Werner seeing his blast blocked by Kabore, as Meng did superbly to stand his ground on the line and repel Sarr's fierce follow up, the ball quite unbelievably not ending up in the back of the Hatters net.

Although the hosts had a monopoly on session, as was expected, they struggled to really create anything noteworthy during the remainder of the half, too many passes going astray or straight through to Kaminski. In fact it was Luton who went closest to doubling their advantage with 43 gone, Townsend sending over a deep cross that was met by Doughty at the far post, his well-hit volley cannoning behind off Pedro Porro.

The wingback took the set-piece himself, Town threatening again as Berry's towering header dropped agonisingly wide. Luton's defending, which had been terrific, continued right until the final seconds, Chong throwing himself in front of Son's shot as the South Korean international looked destined to make it 1-1.

Luton had to make their first change at the break, Burke unable to reappear, with Daiki Hashioka on, but importantly Spurs introduced Welsh international Brennan Johnson, who was to have a key role in proceedings. As at the Vitality Stadium, Luton couldn't replicate their defensive solidity in the second period, the lead gone in the space of six minutes, Johnson's cross badly shanked into his own net by Kabore at the far post.

Spurs were hungry now, as they brilliantly cut Luton open and Porro's low cross tested Kabrore again, but this time he got his angles right to slam the danger away. A second looked on the cards, the home side slicing through with the ease they couldn't manage in the opening 45 minutes, Porro scampering away on the right and finding Son, Kaminski using his legs well.

Kabore proved he was able to put the mistake behind him, another brilliant intervention stopping Johnson's cross being tucked home. Luton brought on Jordan Clark for Berry, the midfielder almost having an instant impact with 66 gone, winning a corner that Guglielmo Vicario punched out to him, his low drive heading for the net, only for the Italian to fingertip it behind.

With Chong down for treatment and unable to continue, Onyedinma was called upon for the final 15 minutes, Spurs a millimetre away from moving 2-1 in front on 78 minutes, Kaminski making a stunning close range stop from Johnson, Doughty completing the job on the line. It looked to the 61,000 inside the ground that he hadn't done so in time, everyone expecting referee Jarred Gillett to point to his watch to signal the goal, but replays showed that the slightest part of the ball hadn’t in fact crossed and it remained all square.

Doughty became the latest player to go off, Edwards looking on enviously as opposite number Postecoglou could make tactical changes to bring on Richarlison, Town winning a corner with four minutes to go, which was to unfortunately prove their downfall. Cleared out to Clark, his pass was easily cut out and Spurs went for the jugular, the visitors unable to commit a tactical foul to stop the attack which ended with Son sweeping home via a cruel deflection.

Luton almost pulled something back in nine minutes of stoppage time, but Clark's ball back to Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu didn't have enough on it, as Town lost a sixth game in eight to drop back into the relegation zone after Nottingham Forest's 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace and now have the small task of going to Arsenal on Wednesday night.

Spurs: Guglielmo Vicario, Radu Dragusin, Heung-Min Son (C, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg 88), Yves Bissouma (Richarlison 85), James Maddison (Rodrigo Bentancur 68), Timo Werner, Cristian Romero, Dejan Kulusevski (Brennan Johnson 46), Pedro Porro, Pape Matar Sarr (Giovani Lo Celso 68), Destiny Udogie. Subs not used: Brandon Austin, Emerson Royal, Ben Davies, Micky van de Ven.

Hatters: Thomas Kaminski, Andros Townsend, Teden Mengi, Reece Burke (Daiki Hashioka 46), Issa Kabore, Alfie Doughty (Cauley Woodrow 83), Ross Barkley, Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, Luke Berry (Jordan Clark 63), Tahith Chong (Fred Onyedinma 74), Carlton Morris (C). Subs not used: James Shea, Tim Krul, Axel Piesold, Zack Nelson, Joe Johnson. Referee: Jarred Gillett. Booked: Barkley 30, Burke 35, Mpanzu 46, Mengi 90, Hojbjerg 90, Lo Celso 90. Attendance: 61,534.