Hull City 0-2 Luton Town: Two first half goals seal three points for the Hatters

Hull suffered a fifth consecutive loss with a 2-0 defeat at home to Luton – on a turbulent day when manager Shota Arveladze was sacked just hours before the game.

Arveladze, who joined the club in January, was sacked by ambitious owner Acun Ilicali after poor form, with the Turkish media mogul admitting “our views did not match”.

Interim head coach Andy Dawson couldn’t cause a sudden surge in fortune and was always against it when Alfie Jones scored an own goal after just six minutes.

The win on the road saw Luton climb to fifth in the Championship League standings

The weakest defense in the Sky Bet Championship broke loose again after 44 minutes when Henri Lansbury let loose from the edge of the box.

Hull had their moments in the future, but their cosmopolitan side so far lacks the strength and deception to hold their own in such a robust competition.

Luton, on the other hand, has made encouraging progress after a slow start to the season, moving up to fifth place under Nathan Jones.

Dawson, a popular player at Hull during their early days in the Premier League, received a rousing reception in what will soon become the club’s leadership.

But home fans were soon muffled when Elijah Adebayo’s hit – Lansbury this time the provider with a nice corner – hit the bottom of the crossbar, spooning Jones’ swaying legs into the net.

Hull City have now lost six games this season and dropped to 20th in the league table

However, Hull might have equalized 16 minutes later, when Regan Slater tried his luck from the right channel.

Slater’s evasive attempt was goal-bound, but hit the head of Luton captain Dan Potts and bounced off the crossbar.

An open first half in which Luton constantly manipulated their air superiority – goalkeeper Nathan Baxter was called up twice for good saves – seemed destined to reach a restrained conclusion.

That was until Lansbury controlled Lewie Coyle’s hideous header from a central position outside the box, while Baxter had done well seconds earlier to refuse Jordan Clark.

Luton boss Nathan Jones celebrates at the whistle after his team’s away win

Lansbury hadn’t scored for Luton before, but the way he found the bottom right corner must have left supporters wondering why it had taken so long.

The second half was a non-event, with Luton happy to sit back and Hull lacked any semblance of attacking nous from the substitutes’ bench – despite having plenty of possession.

Ilicali may still have big dreams of promotion, but championship survival seems like a much more realistic target based on this evidence.

Luton, on the other hand, has the structure to think again about making it to the playoffs.