Luton Town squandered a three-goal lead to lose 4-3 at Bournemouth as they blew their chance to climb out of the Premier League relegation zone on Wednesday.
It looked so good for Luton with first-half goals by Tahith Chong, Chiedozie Ogbene and Ross Barkley putting them in complete control on the south coast.
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That scoreline would have lifted Luton above Nottingham Forest into 17th place but Bournemouth, who were booed off at half-time were transformed after the interval.
Dominic Solanke struck immediately after the break and they were level before the midway point of the second half thanks to goals by Illia Zabarnyi and Antoine Semenyo.
Luton were reeling and there was a sense of inevitability about Semenyo netting the winner in the 83rd minute.
Bournemouth, who remain in 13th place with 35 points, are the first team for 21 years to win a Premier League game in which they trailed by three goals.
They also recovered from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Sheffield United last weekend.
“I haven’t been involved in a game like that before,” Semenyo said. “Even when we are down at half-time we know that man to man our game is about bravery.
“So in the second half whether we are down or up we are going to be pressing the same way. We know that we are going to have chances and second half today was amazing.”
The game was re-scheduled after the initial fixture was abandoned after 59 minutes in December when Luton captain Tom Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch.
Lockyer was present on Wednesday and received a standing ovation before kickoff as he met the medics who saved his life.
Luton remain in 18th place with 21 points from 28 games, three points behind Nottingham Forest.
“It’s going to hurt but we have to pick ourselves up,” downbeat Luton manager Rob Edwards said. “We have another huge game in a few days time and we’ve got no other option but to pick ourselves up and go again.”
“We are not out of this fight. We are three points behind the team above us and our job is to try and win the game on Saturday.”
The focus was all on Lockyer before kickoff as he returned to the stadium where he almost lost his life.
“I am quite numb to the whole thing but being back here, I came into the tunnel area and saw the paramedics that saved my life,” Lockyer said. “I recognised them straight away.
“What do you say in that situation other than thank you? They are heroes, they saved my life. I got a bit emotional.”
Lockyer, who had an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) fitted, was up applauding when Chong headed in after eight minutes from Jordan Clark’s cross.
Chong was involved again in the 31st minute when his astute pass found Alfie Doughty who then teed up Ogbene to make it 2-0. And when Barkley finished superbly on the stroke of halftime Luton were in dreamland.
Bournemouth arrived out early for the second half after a tongue-lashing by boss Andoni Iraola and gave themselves a lifeline when Solanke spun away from Daiki Hashioka after some deft control and finished in style.
The crowd broke into applause in the 59th minute in respect of Lockyer but at almost the same moment Zabarnyi’s header was adjudged to have crossed the line.
A couple of minutes later Semenyo lashed a low shot past Luton keeper Thomas Kaminski and it was Semenyo who completed an incredible comeback with another powerful finish as Luton’s defence crumbled.
Bournemouth midfielder Tyler Adams entered in the 71st minute for his first Premier League appearance for the south coast club. The United States captain, who earlier in the day was named in his national team’s squad for the first time since the 2022 World Cup, had hamstring surgery last October.
Information from Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.