By Alan Baldwin
LONDON (Reuters) – Brentford moved into the top half of the Premier League table – and above West London rivals Chelsea at least for a day – after beating Luton Town 3-1 at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.
French striker Neal Maupay, on loan from Everton and back in the starting lineup, broke the ice on a freezing afternoon in the capital by sweeping home from close range in the 49th after a scuffed Ben Mee shot deflected off a Luton defender.
Mee then made it 2-0, heading in after a 56th minute corner, as Brentford found their flow following a scrappy first half of missed chances.
Luton grabbed one back in the 76th minute through substitute Jacob Brown but Brentford made sure of the three points when Shandon Baptiste scored from close range in the 81st.
Brentford moved up to 10th on 19 points, three clear of 11th placed Chelsea who play at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday, with Luton 17th on nine.
Bryan Mbeumo, the Bees’ top scorer so far this season with six league goals in the absence of banned forward Ivan Toney, saw several attempts go wide or over the bar and was substituted in the 78th.
Lively Brentford appeals for a penalty in the 43rd minute, for a possible handball by Luton defender Issa Kabore, came to nothing.
Luton captain Tom Lockyer went down in the second minute after a knee in the back and was replaced at the break, while Brentford lost centre-back Kristoffer Ajer to injury in the warm-up.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, Editing by Hugh Lawson)
