BURNLEY MARKED their return to the Sky Bet Championship with a deserved 4-1 win against Luton as Scott Parker opened his tenure with an emphatic victory at Kenilworth Road.
Luton finished above their visitors in last season’s Premier League relegation zone but were second best throughout as they began life back outside the top flight.
The Hatters were undone by first-half goals from Josh Brownhill and Wilson Odobert as Burnley asserted their dominance.
Tahith Chong pulled one back shortly after the break but any hope home supporters had of a fightback were promptly extinguished as Sky Sports’ Player of the Match Dara O’Shea headed in from a corner before Vitinho lashed in a fourth to hand Parker the perfect start.
His side had taken the lead after six minutes and the goal owed to the vision and passing of debutant Lucas Pires. The left-back, a summer signing from Brazilian side Santos, collected a square ball from Odobert inside his own half, scanned ahead and dinked a weighted pass through for the onrushing Brownhill, who took a touch to lose Zack Nelson then swept a finish between the legs of Thomas Kaminski.
Burnley’s second was almost a carbon copy of the opener. This time, it was Connor Roberts in the opposite full-back position whose awareness and cutting through-ball made the chance, bending his pass from deep over defender Joe Johnson and into the path of Odobert, who controlled it on the run and with his second touch buried it.
Luton nearly hit back in the first minute of the second half, last season’s top scorer Elijah Adebayo rising high to beat goalkeeper James Trafford to a looping ball and sending a header spinning against the crossbar.
Odobert found himself with room to shoot from the edge of the box after a driving run through the middle from Luca Koleosho but this time Johnson stuck touch-tight to his man and deflected away the French forward’s effort with a fine sliding block.
Moments later O’Shea drew a superb one-handed save from Kaminski with a left-footed pile-driver from 12 yards, before Vitinho got free around the back from Odobert’s header and, from an awkward angle, volleyed against the foot of the post.
Burnley ought to have been out of sight before Alfie Doughty stayed onside to head the ball back across goal from a deep cross and Chong stole in unmarked to tap in for what had looked an unlikely lifeline.
Burnley restore their two goal advantage!
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) August 12, 2024
O'Shea heads the ball home from the corner! 💥 pic.twitter.com/jr9MNaaBKx
It would be whipped away as suddenly as it came, and Luton had their own defensive hesitancy to blame. In the 72nd minute, O’Shea rose to meet a floated corner from Pires and neither Johnson nor Reuell Walters were alert enough to challenge as the defender’s header dropped into the net beyond Kaminski.
Vitinho crashed home Burnley’s fourth late on as the ground began to empty, exploiting the gaps left as Luton pushed up in vain to search for a way back.
English Championship result on Monday:
Luton 1 Burnley 4
Played Sunday
Sheffield Wednesday 4 Plymouth 0
Saturday
Cardiff 0 Sunderland 2
Hull 1 Bristol City 1
Leeds 3 Portsmouth 3
Middlesbrough 1 Swansea 0
Millwall 2 Watford 3
Oxford 2 Norwich 0
QPR 1 West Brom 3
Stoke 1 Coventry 0
Friday
Blackburn 4 Derby 2
Preston 0 Sheffield United 2
