Plymouth Argyle beat Luton Town 2-3 in a crazy game at Kenilworth Road to secure their first away win of the season.

Matty Sorinola’s diving header gave the Greens an early lead before Jerry Yates levelled from the penalty spot.

Bradley Ibrahim’s strike in first-half stoppage time was cancelled out two minutes into the second-period by Nahki Wells, again from a spot-kick.

Red cards for Joe Edwards and Tom Cleverley came before Ibrahim netted the eventual winner in the 75th minute.

Head Coach Cleverley made just one change to the side that beat Stockport County at Home Park last weekend.

Mathias Ross came in for Kornel Szucs, making his first league start, having previously made his debut for the Greens in the Vertu Trophy win against Cheltenham Town.

This meant it was Luca Ashby-Hammond in goal with a back three ahead of him that consisted of Ross, Alex Mitchell, and Brendan Wiredu; Edwards and Sorinola offered support on the flanks as wing-backs. 

Malachi Boateng and Ibrahim anchored the defence with Bali Mumba and Caleb Watts just ahead in advanced roles. Lorent Tolaj led the line again, fresh from scoring his first league goal against Stockport last time out.

Law McCabe made the matchday squad for the first time, having arrived on deadline day and featuring for the England under-20s during the most recent international break.

The first action of the game saw Watts replaced by Owen Dale in an enforced substitution. It was an innocuous incident on the touchline, among a crowd of bodies, which resulted in the attacking-midfielder’s afternoon ending after just four minutes. 

This did not dampen the Greens’ spirits, however. Sorinola made sure of this when he headed Cleverley’s side ahead 15 minutes into proceedings.  

Tolaj’s botched touch forced him wide, a position on the pitch he would not ordinarily tend to take up. The striker jinked inside onto his left foot from the right flank and curled a cross towards the far-post, where Sorinola had ventured forward.

With the ball slightly too low, the wing-back performed an acrobatic diving header to scoop the ball over the line and put Argyle ahead for the first time away from home all season.

However, that lead would not last long, just minutes later referee Oliver Yates was pointing to the spot to award Luton a penalty kick. Wiredu was adjudged to have led with his forearm when competing against Lasse Nordås for a header inside the Argyle box.

Up stepped Luton’s Yates, who calmly dispatched the spot-kick down the middle to bring the hosts level just five minutes after they fell behind.

Just minutes later, Zach Nelson came close to making matters worse for the Pilgrims through a powerful near-post drive, but his effort was stopped well by Ashby-Hammond.

Despite the early setback Argyle kept pushing on to try and retake their lead; Ross, Ibrahim, and Dale all showed glimpses of attacking threat that had Hatters’ stopper Josh Keeley attentive.

Ashby-Hammond was on duty again when, with five minutes to go in the first-half, he was required to beat away a venomous effort from Millenic Alli that looked destined for the top corner.

Argyle’s resilience proved the difference at the end of the first period, a goal from Ibrahim that summed up the Greens’ performance in the first 45 minutes.

The combative midfielder advanced up the pitch to close down Zach Nelson on the edge of his own penalty area and won the ball back cleanly. Ibrahim took aim and beat Keeley with a well-hit effort that flew beyond the outstretched glove of the Irish keeper and into the back of the net in front of the travelling Argyle supporters.

Cleverley’s side will have gone into the interval feeling they had gotten what they deserved from the first-half, but also knowing the job was not yet done.

With less than three minutes gone in the second-half, the referee had awarded the Hatters another penalty. It came following an off-the-ball tussle at the far-post between Sorinola and Gideon Kodua in which the Luton man was felled.

Half-time substitute Nahki Wells took this one and rolled it beyond Ashby-Hammond into the bottom-left corner to level the game for the second time.

Things went from bad to worse for Argyle when minutes later, skipper Edwards was shown a straight red card for a heavy challenge on Alli, and the Greens were reduced to ten men.

Ross was sacrificed and replaced by Brendan Galloway to sure things up defensively for the Pilgrims, Cleverley deploying a 4-4-1 formation in response. 

Both Yates and Wells had chances to add to both Luton’s and their own goal tallies, but fortunately for Argyle they failed to find the target with their respective efforts.

Head-coach Cleverley received his marching orders midway through the second-period when the referee brandished the red card for the second time.

It seemed that losing both their manager and captain gave Argyle the determination to go and find another goal, backs against the wall, against the odds.

Sorinola’s corner caused carnage inside the Luton penalty area, with the ball bouncing off numerous players from both teams before ricocheting off Ibrahim and into the back of the net, the entirety of the Argyle side wheeling away in defiant celebration.

Ashby-Hammond bailed his side out on another occasion when, in the final ten minutes, Christ Makosso forced a point-blank save from a scuffed effort. Important blocks from Sorinola, Galloway, and Mitchell, denied the hosts further chances to threaten the Pilgrims’ goal as the clock ran down.

Off came Tolaj and Sorinola, with Bim Pepple and McCabe introduced into the cacophony of noise that was Bloomfield Road, the 1,300-strong away contingent matching the team on the pitch for passion and desire.

Last-ditch interventions were plentiful in the ten minutes of additional time, each of Argyle’s players playing their part in ensuring they got the result that their performance had warranted over the course of the afternoon.

Jubilation ensued when the referee blew the whistle to indicate full-time, from the pitch, to the dug-out, to the packed-out away-end.

Cleverley’s side have now won two consecutive games in League One and will be looking to make it three-in-a-row against Peterborough United at Home Park next weekend.

Argyle: 21 Luca Ashby-Hammond, 2 Mathias Ross (22 Brendan Galloway, 52), 4 Brendan Wiredu, 8 Joe Edwards (capt), 9 Lorent Tolaj (27 Bim Pepple, 87), 11 Bali Mumba, 15 Alex Mitchell, 17 Caleb Watts (35 Owen Dale, 4), 19 Malachi Boateng, 23 Bradley Ibrahim, 29 Matty Sorinola (20 Law McCabe, 87). Substitutes: 13 Zak Baker (gk), 18 Owen Oseni, 39 Tegan Finn.

Goals: Sorinola 15, Ibrahim 50, 75

Booked: Wiredu 19, Cleverley 49, Mumba 76, Galloway 90+7

Red card: Edwards 50, Cleverley 73

Luton: 24 Josh Keeley, 5 Mads Andersen (33 Cohen Bramall, 71), 7 Millenic Alli, 9 Jerry Yates, 17 Nigel Lonwijk (3 Kal Naismith, half-time), 18 Jordan Clark (capt), 20 Lasse Nordas (21 Nahki Wells, half-time), 23 George Saville, 28 Christ Makosso, 30 Gideon Kodua (14 Shayden Morris, 60), 37 Zack Nelson (31 Joe Gbode, 84). Substitutes: 1 James Shea (gk), 8 Liam Walsh.

Goals: Yates 20, Wells 49

Booked: Lonwijk 26, Alli 52

Referee: Ollie Yates