Luton boss Rob Edwards has warned his side to be ready to face a red-hot AFC Bournemouth side and in particular flying attacker Antoine Semenyo, if he recovers from illness, after he led the Cherries to what seemed an impossible 4-3 victory at the Vitality Stadium over the Hatters just under a month ago.
Town had romped into a 3-0 lead on the south coast thanks to first half goals from Tahith Chong, Chiedozie Ogbene and Ross Barkley, which looked like it would be enough to breathe real life into their hopes of staying up this term. However, Semenyo, a £10m signing from Bristol City in January 2023, then came off the bench at the break along with Marcus Tavernier, as Andoni Iraola sent his players out early for the second period, the double change not only working, but working wonders.
Within 20 minutes the hosts were level, Dominic Solanke, Illia Zabarnyi and Semenyo all scoring, before the interval replacement, who gave Daiki Hashioka a real working over, then added his second in the closing stages to seal what had looked like an improbable success. Having seen the Ghana international and his team-mates in full flight, Edwards knows they will need close attention this afternoon at Kenilworth Road, as he said: “He (Semenyo) was really influential, but whoever they pick on that last line, Solanke’s had an amazing season, Tavernier had a real impact in that game when he came on at half time, he’s been ever present since
