Norwich punished Luton for their missed chances as Marcelino Nunez's second-half goal helped the Canaries to a narrow 1-0 Championship win at Kenilworth Road.
Luton, who have now suffered three consecutive defeats in the league, have found themselves back in the relegation picture after dropping out of the Premier League last season.
The Hatters, needing three points after losses to Bristol City and Swansea last week, enjoyed a promising early period thanks to the pace of Tahith Chong.
The wide man had upped the tempo on the counter in his own half, skipping past two players before slipping through Elijah Adebayo on goal, but after a poor first touch the striker's effort was favorably aimed at the goalkeeper.
When attacking orchestrator Jordan Clark was ruled out through injury, the hosts lost their lead and it was Norwich who pressed from the front.
The visitors created space for Emiliano Marcondes, whose one-on-one attempt was stopped by Luton goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski, who headed low into his bottom left corner in the 17th minute.
But the home side could always rely on their striking double play of Adebayo and Carlton Morris, whose physical attributes could trouble any defense.
Norwich's relentless man-for-man pressing gave Luton the opportunity to go long and after Amari'i Bell effortlessly tapped a ball onto Morris' chest, the captain played Adebayo in from a tight angle before the Norwich defenders rushed to deny the opener.
And it was a similar long ball to goalkeeper Adebayo that set up the game-winning chance after the break.
The rehearsed move saw Chong run through to a chested pass this time, but his left-footed effort crashed off the crossbar as Luton were denied a well-executed move in the 63rd minute.
After further missed chances from Rob Edwards' men, the hosts rued their lack of sharpness as Norwich went the other end and fired home their first chance of note in the second half.
Nunez on the right was given a yard of space after his wing-back overlapped and dragged the defender with him, before blasting his effort across goal and into the bottom left corner on 73 minutes.
Luton hit the post in four extra minutes as another defeat increased the pressure on the under-fire Edwards.
The administrators
Rob Edwards from Luton:
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Johannes Hoff Thorup from Norwich:
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