Soucek stars despite late Luton equaliser

By Sean Whetstone

Luton Town 1 Irons 1

The Hammers were denied a win in their penultimate friendly at Luton Town after impressive Tomas Soucek had given them the lead with a fine first half header.

The Czech midfielder made a well timed run to nod past the Town keeper from a fine Cresswell cross and the Hammers went on to dominate.

But seconds before the final whistle the Championship side drew level when Sonny Bradley stabbed home from close range.

Soucek, however, was in fine form all afternoon and any talk of him leaving the club looked out of the question particularly when foraging forward.

Antonio missed a number of chances in the second half including one where he was one on one with the Luton keeper but failed to hit the net from the edge of the area.

Vlasic also looked lively in the second half when he came on as a second-half substitute with Antonio for Benrahma and Fornals.

Captain Declan Rice looked calm and composed and Areola was never really troubled by the Hatters.

Kurt Zouma was the only recognized centre-back with Aguerd, Diop and Dawson all out injured and Oggy rested after playing for the U23’s yesterday.

Harrison Ashby and Manu Lanzini came on for the last 15 minutes to replace Bowen and Masuaku.

Rice was replaced in the last fifteen to give Conor Coventry a late runout.

Flynn Downes arrived as a late substitute to replace goal scorer Tomas Soucek who truly had a great game for the Hammers.

It was a  better performance than we saw against Glasgow Rangers but Luton were often the architchts of their own misfortune but the Hammers will have to improve significantly for the arrival of Manchester City.