Teden Mengi’s superb finish at The Den gave Luton a much-needed first win of the season as they edged past Millwall 1-0 in the Sky Bet Championship.
It ended the Hatters’ winless run of 11 games that extended back to April last season – just before their relegation from the Premier League – and lifted them away from the division’s bottom three.
They certainly will not have worried that their winner came from an unlikely source as former Manchester United defender Mengi struck just the second goal of his career.
The first chance went the way of Millwall captain Jake Cooper in the eighth minute when he was allowed a bit of space from George Honeyman’s corner, with his header looping over.
Luton came alive in the 10th minute when Tahith Chong’s deflected cross was cleared as far as Alfie Doughty, whose shot was kept out by Lions goalkeeper Lukas Jensen’s feet.
The rebound fell to Marvelous Nakamba then Liam Walsh, who laid the ball off for Mengi to strike a sweet first-time shot from outside the area into the bottom corner, leaving Jensen a mere spectator.
Casper De Norre tried to re-energise the Lions with a shot from 25 yards, but this was comfortably dealt with by Luton keeper Thomas Kaminski.
The Hatters were then inches away from a second after 22 minutes when Chong outmuscled his marker following Doughty’s free-kick before his shot on the turn came back off a post.
Mengi almost doubled his tally for the afternoon in first-half stoppage time when his volley was well saved by Jensen after Millwall could not clear Doughty’s corner.
De Norre had another shot from distance that went over early in the second half before Walsh had an effort saved by Jensen at the other end as the contest stayed in the balance.
Another chance for Luton to extend their lead came in the 62nd minute when Walsh’s cross was cleared only as far as Chong, who shot just wide of the near post.
The Hatters were holding the hosts at arm’s length, but they could not afford to relax as Walsh passed up a great opportunity to open up clear daylight by shooting straight at Jensen from inside the area.
A sloppy pass from Pelly Ruddock then led to Millwall’s best chance of the game after 81 minutes when Duncan Watmore put Macauley Langstaff through on goal, only for Kaminski to stand tall and deflect his effort behind.
The Belgian then ensured his side finally tasted that winning feeling again when he pushed away Shaun Hutchinson’s header from George Saville’s corner in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
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