Sabri Lamouchi's first game in the dugout saw him watch his Cardiff City players defeated by a late Elijah Adebayo header.
By Glen Williams
Cardiff were made to work so hard and the winner was most certainly coming. Ryan Allsop looked like he almost single-handedly earned City a point with a terrific second-half penalty save.
However, with just a couple of minutes left on the clock, following a barrage of late pressure, Adebayo, who had missed the penalty, atoned for his header and earned the Hatters a win over the Bluebirds.
Cardiff had a few chances of their own, chiefly through Sheyi Ojo and Ryan Wintle, but in truth they never looked threatening enough to come away with the win.
For the Bluebirds, it's now 12 games without a victory to their name in all competitions. For Lamouchi, it's not the ideal start he would have liked.
In the absence of Callum O'Dowda, who missed out through injury - as did new assistant Sol Bamba, Jack Simpson was named at left-back, but there were not wholesale changes.
Although Cardiff did look compact and difficult to break down the opening exchanges, except for when reigning Bluebirds player of the season Cody Drameh attacked Simpson's side.
But Cardiff gave as good as they got. Sheyi Ojo fired off a couple of decent early shots and worked Ethan Horvath in the hosts' goal, while Callum Robinson clipped the top of the crossbar with a good effort from 25 yards.
You could sense the frustration from the home bench when every Luton attack broke down in Cardiff's half and the visitors grew in confidence. Cedric Kipre burst out of defence and dispossessed Carlton Morris before embarking on one marauding run. He fed Callum Robinson in the box but the chance was cut out at the last second by a sprawling Hatters leg.
As the half-time whistle blew, though, it was hardly a clash to write home about. A first half of very few chances and even less excitement trickled by for Lamouchi in the visiting dugout.
Ojo looked bright at times and he almost found his way through the Luton defence after the break when an errant Jordan Clark pass found him in the middle of the pitch. He was fouled just 20 yards from goal, though, and his resultant free-kick was poor and over the bar.
His next effort, though, was the best chance of the opening hour of the match. Ojo spun his man in the box and sent an effort towards the top corner, forcing Horvath into an excellent, fingertip save to deny him the opener.
Luton were handed a golden opportunity to take the lead, though. A ball flicked up in Cardiff's area appeared to strike Cedric Kipre's hand, even though the defender looked like he could do very little about it, and Geoff Eltringham pointed to the spot.
Up stepped Elijah Adebayo, who hit a tame spot-kick low to Allsop's right and the goalkeeper got down well to save and maintain parity.
As for Cardiff, well, it is inarguable that the best chance for Cardiff fell to Ryan Wintle. Robinson stuck a brilliant ball into the box and the midfielder had ghosted into the area, unmarked. It drifted across Wintle and he swung a right foot at it - but sliced it horribly wide.
And that chance would come back to bite City.
A torrent of crosses and corners left City's defence at breaking point and the pressure was simply too much. A ballooned, inviting cross into the box was good enough for Adebayo as he rose high and header firmly past Allsop.
That new-manager bounce will have to wait for the Bluebirds.
Luton Town XI: Horvath; Drameh (Berry 69), Lockyer, Burke, Bell; Mpanzu, Clark, Doughty; Woodrow (Onyedinma 69); Adebayo, Morris.
Subs: Watson, Campbell, Walton, Thorpe, Osho.
Cardiff City XI: Cardiff City XI: Allsop; Ng, McGuinness, Kipre, Simpson; Wintle, Ralls (Philogene 77), Sawyers; Ojo, Robinson, Harris (Colwill 77).
Subs: Alnwick, Benjamin, Rinomhota, Etete, Davies.
Attendance: 9,031 (544)
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