Blackpool travelled to Bedfordshire to take on Luton Town at Kenilworth Road. They travelled back to the North-West with a share of the points after a 1-1 draw.
It was a result that saw Neil Critchley’s Blackpool outfit remain 16th in the Sky Bet Championship table.
The first half saw Luton Town take the lead through Elijah Adebayo (2′), his shot taking a slight deflection off of Richard Keogh. It was a lead they held to the half-time whistle – the Hatters going into the break 1-0 up.
The second half saw Blackpool make the early moves and they equalised through Gary Madine (55′) who scored from the spot after CJ Hamilton was brought down in the box. A hard-fought half saw chances for both sides but it was a game that ended in a 1-1 draw.
One man who stood out across the whole of the game was Blackpool’s centre-back Marvin Ekpiteta.
The stats from the game tell a story…
Centre-back Ekpiteta arrived at Blackpool on a free transfer after his Leyton Orient contract ran out in summer 2020.
He’s made 38 appearances in the Championship this season for the Seasiders and has scored five goals.
However, as per WhoScored’s match data, his game wasn’t about goals against Luton Town.
He might have been wayward with his distribution (45% accuracy) but even one of his 13 passes was a chance-creating key pass.
What was massively more impressive was the defensive stint he put in. This included a match-high 11 headers – eight of these being defensive headers.
As well as completing all the headed duels he contested, he also made a game-high nine clearances – three more than any other player on the pitch.
Add to that a single interception and Ekpiteta had 18 defensive contributions against Luton Town. That total demonstrates how influential he was in helping Blackpool secure a share of the points.
