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• Luton Town 1-1 Everton: Hatters squander opportunity to climb out of relegation zone

  Luton Town missed an inviting chance to escape the Premier League's bottom three after Friday's hard-fought 1-1 draw with Everton at Kenilworth Road.

  Rob Edwards' side would have leapfrogged 17th-placed Nottingham Forest – who visit Sheffield United on Saturday – with a victory, but were instead left level on points with Nuno Espirito Santo's team.

  The fit-again Elijah Adebayo cancelled out Dominic Calvert-Lewin's 24th-minute penalty in an entertaining first half, though neither side could find a winner in an end-to-end second period.

  Despite an encouraging performance, Luton – who almost snatched a late victory – stay 18th and below Forest on goal difference, while Everton remain 15th in the table.

  A tense opening offered few opportunities as Dwight McNeil's left-wing cross deflected off Teden Mengi and forced Thomas Kaminski into a smart reflex stop, but Everton hit the front soon after.

  VAR David Coote recommended a pitch-side review before referee Tim Robinson awarded a penalty for a needless Mengi pull on Jarrad Branthwaite's shirt from McNeil's corner, with Calvert-Lewin squeezing his spot-kick under Kaminski.

  Yet Luton responded after 31 minutes when Adebayo ushered Ashley Young out of the way from Albert Sambi Lokonga's hanging delivery before swivelling to finish into the bottom-left corner.

  Clear-cut chances remained sparse before Carlton Morris' looping header from Alfie Doughty's pinpoint back-post delivery was headed off the line by Ben Godfrey on the stroke of half-time.

  Gabriel Osho curled a bending effort narrowly wide of Jordan Pickford's left-hand post shortly after the interval, while former Toffee Ross Barkley headed over from Tahith Chong's left-wing centre.

  Jack Harrison's deflected effort almost caught Luton off-guard, though, as Kaminski produced an eye-catching stop before denying a thumping Calvert-Lewin header.

  Luton laid siege to Everton's area in stoppage time, but the Toffees clung on, Pickford turning Luke Berry's header wide before a heroic Branthwaite block denied Andros Townsend a last-gasp winner against his former club. 

  Luton entertain without victory

  Prior to Friday's match, Luton had won just one of their last 14 Premier League games (three draws, 10 defeats), with no side picking up fewer points than the Hatters since the start of this run (six).

  Edwards' winless misery was further compounded when Mengi's mindless foul on Branthwaite afforded Everton their opener, yet Luton responded to keep their hopes of Premier League safety alive and cement their status among the competition's entertainers.

  Luton have both scored and conceded in 29 of their 36 Premier League games this season, a joint-record by any side in a single campaign in the competition, along with Swindon Town in 1993-94 and Southampton in 1994-95.

  Everton not resting on laurels

  Everton could have been forgiven for letting this game pass them by, having already secured their top-flight status with three straight victories over Forest, Liverpool and Brentford.

  Yet the Toffees started well and were good value for their lead as Calvert-Lewin scored his fourth goal in his last five Premier League appearances, as many as he managed in his previous 38.

  Some disappointing defending for Adebayo's leveller may frustrate Sean Dyche, but his side still made it four games unbeaten since their 6-0 hammering at Chelsea in the middle of April.

• Everyone wants to beat Leverkusen, says Alonso ahead of Frankfurt clash

  Bayer Leverkusen continue to edge towards a remarkable unbeaten season and Xabi Alonso acknowledged every club wants to put that run to an end.

  The newly-crowned Bundesliga champions moved a step closer to a treble after beating Roma 2-0 away in their Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday.

  Alonso's side have also reached the DFB-Pokal final against Kaiserslautern as their extraordinary 47-game unbeaten run continues across all competitions.

  Leverkusen, who ended Bayern Munich's 11-year stranglehold on the Bundesliga title to secure their first trophy since 1993, travel to sixth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.

  "We want to stay unbeaten and we know every week it gets tougher. Everyone wants to beat us," Alonso told reporters.

  "It hasn't been easy in Frankfurt in recent years, they've always a tough opponent with a flexible system of play. We don't have much time to prepare."

  The 42-year-old Spaniard will be watching the Frankfurt game from the stands after receiving his fourth yellow card of the season during his side's 2-2 home draw with Stuttgart last week.

  "You can see the game better from the stands and I can communicate with the bench," he said.

  "I will miss the direct contact with the team during the game but the players are intelligent enough to decide situations individually on the pitch."

• Neville: Chelsea sacking Pochettino 'would be madness'

  Gary Neville says it "would be madness" for Chelsea to sack head coach Mauricio Pochettino as he is ideally suited to managing the club.

  Pochettino admitted after Chelsea's 2-0 win over his former side Tottenham on Thursday that he is unsure of his future at Stamford Bridge.

  The Argentinian has been under intense pressure at times this season, most recently on the back of the 5-0 loss to Arsenal last week.

  Chelsea have since responded with a battling 2-2 draw at Aston Villa and the impressive win over Spurs, but doubts remain over Pochettino's future.

  However, Neville insists it would be wrong of Chelsea to part company with the former Paris Saint-Germain boss at the end of the season.

  "There was talk of Pochettino being under pressure a month or so ago," he told Sky Sports. "I think it would be madness to change the coach whose quality of work with these types of player is renowned.

  "Making sure you have stability through another transfer window seems more critical than the idea someone else would come in and do a better job. That doesn't feel right here.

  "He's a proven coach. One of the great coaches in the Premier League in the last five, six, seven years. Pochettino has had some up and down moments this season. But this is a good one."

  Chelsea's victory over Tottenham moved them up to eighth in the Premier League and now within three points of Manchester United in sixth.

  United have also struggled for consistency this season, raising doubts over their own manager Erik ten Hag as the end of the season nears.

  There have also been reports that most of United's players will be up for sale when the transfer window opens, with or without Ten Hag in charge.

  Ten Hag labelled those rumours "untrue", and Neville is adamant there will not be wholesale changes to the squad during the close season.

  "To be fair, you know it's not true," the United legend said. "I mean [Kobbie] Mainoo is not for sale – there's no way that man can be sold so every player can't be for sale, it's impossible. There's no way United could sell their best young players.

  "There's a lack of stability here at Chelsea at the moment, but there's a lack of stability at United. Richard Arnold, John Murtough, Patrick Stewart, Cliff Baty, all the senior management, Darren Fletcher's been moved to a different role within the club, Jason Wilcox has come in.

  "I can understand why there is quite a few players who will be under pressure and potentially would be sold, but I can't believe it's every player or anywhere near that."