EFL Cup: Luton Town 3 Aston Villa 1 - Report and pictures

A little over six months since their last win and 12 since their last away from home, last night's first round League Cup tie at Luton Town looked the ideal chance for Villa to rebuild some confidence.

Instead it delivered a night of embarrassment to rival any of those suffered last season as Villa, who led through Jordan Ayew's early goal, suffered a mental collapse in a torrid second half which culminated in a shambolic Jores Okore own goal, after Jake Gray and then Cameron McGeehan had earlier netted for the League Two hosts.

The visitors hit the woodwork three times while Rudy Gestede, a second half substitute, had an effort cleared off the line.

But for the 1,500 travelling supporters and owner Tony Xia, who watched from the stands, this was another reminder, if any were needed, of the hard work which lies ahead in turning around a club and a team to which losing has become second nature.

Manager Roberto Di Matteo made seven changes from the team which lost 1-0 at Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday, handing full debuts to Aaron Tshibola and Andre Green.

Left-back Jordan Amavi meanwhile made his first start since November, while the team was captained by Micah Richards, with Tommy Elphick on the bench.

Villa were quick out of the blocks and were twice denied by the woodwork before Ayew gave them the lead on 13 minutes.

First Amavi's cross was deflected onto the underside of the bar by the boot of Luton centre-back Glen Rea. Jack Grealish then thumped a shot against the base of the post from just outside the box.

On both occasions the rebounds fell safely away from visiting players. The hosts were not so lucky, however, when they failed to clear the first corner of the game and Ayew held off the attentions of several defenders before squeezing a shot beyond home keeper Christian Walton and into the far corner.

For a while, it looked a question of just how many the visitors would rack up as Ayew sent another snapshot wide and Villa dominated.

But Luton's first real spell of pressure brought them an equaliser ten minutes break. A reverse pass by Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu split the Villa defence and Gray fired hard and low past Mark Bunn to bring the hosts level with their first shot of the game.

Suddenly Villa looked a lot less sure of themselves and they might have trailed by the break had Bunn not shown sharp reflexes to palm away Jack Marriott's deflected drive, as a rejuvenated Luton enjoyed their best spell so far.

Di Matteo rang the changes at the break, replacing Ross McCormack and Nathan Baker with Gestede and Alan Hutton. But it was the hosts who were nearly in front inside the opening 90 seconds as Bunn saved from Danny Hylton and Marriott's follow-up was blocked by a host of defenders.

Villa were second best but almost went back in front when Gestede slid in to meet Gardner's low cross at the far post, only for Rea to clear off the line.

Moments later, Luton were ahead as Villa's defence went missing. Bunn was out quickly to save at the feet of Mpanzu but his next save, from a Marriott shot, fell straight at the feet of McGeehan to tap home from three yards out.

Faced with an uphill task, Villa could not rely on luck to help them out as, after Walton had pushed Tshibola shot behind, Mullins deflected the resulting corner onto his own bar.

Instead, things only got worse for the visitors as, with 24 minutes remaining, Jores Okore miscued an attempted clearance into his own net to deepen Villa's hole.

Bunn prevented further embarrassment when he kept out Marriott's cross with Villa's defence once again all at sea.

Grealish fired just wide from distance as the visitors searched desperately for some kind of spark but by then they already looked a well beaten team.

Luton (4-1-2-1-2): Walton, O'Donnell, Mullins, Rea, Justin, Lee (Cuthbert 84), Mpanzu, McGeehan, Gray (Smith 87), Hylton, Marriott (Vassell 90+2) Subs not used: Cook, McQuoid, Famewo, King (gk).

Villa (4-2-3-1): Bunn, Richards, Baker (Hutton HT), Okore, Amavi, Tshibola, Gardner, Green, Grealish, Ayew, McCormack (Gestede HT) Subs not used: Bacuna, Elphick, Westwood, Cissokho, Steer (gk).