Wolves dent Luton's Premier League survival hopes with 2-1 win

(Adds managers' quotes)

WOLVERHAMPTON, England, April 27 (Reuters) - W olverhampton Wanderers dealt relegation-threatened Luton Town yet another blow to their Premier League survival hopes with a 2-1 victory thanks to goals by Hwang Hee-chan and Toti Gomes at the Molineux Stadium on Saturday.

Wolves move to 10th place in the standings with 46 points, while Luton remain 18th on 25 with three games to go.

Luton made a positive start but it was Wolves who opened the scoring in the 39th minute when Hwang capitalised on a counter-attack, receiving a pass from Matheus Cunha and driving down the left flank before cutting inside and unleashing a low shot that deflected off Luton defender Teden Mengi.

The South Korean forward has been having a fine campaign, scoring 11 goals in 27 appearances across all competitions this season.

Luton's defensive woes continued with Wolves centre back Gomes doubling his side's lead minutes after the start of the second half from a short corner routine when he found Mario Lemina's perfect cross to head the ball into the net past goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski.

Luton have conceded 77 goals this season, the worst tally in the Premier League apart from Sheffield United (97), whose return to the Championship was confirmed with a 5-1 defeat by Newcastle United on Saturday.

The home side were in complete control in the second half but had to soak up late pressure from Luton, who cut the deficit with Carlton Morris's goal in the 80th minute but it was not enough to spark a comeback.

"It was a good performance, the scoreline probably doesn't tell the full story. We were very comfortable for long periods and we probably should have put it to bed," Wolves manager Gary O'Neil told the BBC.

"It's amazing the difference having a couple of attackers makes to us. It is the first time since Dec. 30 that we have been able to name Hwang and Cunha in the same team. We've had a tough spell without them, (and) although they aren't fully fit at this moment, they are big for the group.

"There are so many positives from this season. We've improved on the points tally of last year, stabilised the club financially and I think it's 13 academy players involved in matchday squads."

Coming off the back of a 5-1 hammering at home by Brentford last week, Luton have now lost five of their last six matches.

"I'm disappointed because we didn't get anything from the game," Luton boss Rob Edwards said.

"It's frustrating how we conceded the two goals but I have got pride in how we kept going until the very end. After a difficult week last week it's good to see that.

"That's the stuff we can hang on to going into the final three games. Points-wise we are on a difficult run but we're still in this. We still fully believe." (Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; editing by Pritha Sarkar and Clare Fallon)