Mauricio Pochettino’s blues survived a late fightback from Luton to claim an important win in a thrilling game at Kenilworth Road.
By Olisa Obi
The Blues started the match brightly and took the lead in the 12th minute due to a poor clearance from Luton’s Issa Kabore handing the ball to Cole Palmer for the forward to drill low into the far corner past Thomas Kaminski.
The young Englishman seems to be in his strides as he was again involved with the second goal working it from the left to the right for Noni Madueke to dribble past Amari’i Bell in the box and then smash the ball from a tight angle into the top corner.
In the second half, Nicolas Jackson threaded a pass through the middle to set up Palmer who calmly rolled the ball into the net to take the blues to 3-0 at the time.
The hatters were able to steal one back after former Chelsea reject, Ross Barkley, scored a header from Alfie Doughty’s corner; this was after Elijah Adebayo’s goal was ruled out as offside.
Luton in an attempt to steal away the game, threw players forward and substitute Carlton Morris’ header was pushed on to the crossbar before Adebayo scored – this time, VAR did not cancel it.
Adebayo’s goal led to a very nervous final few minutes for the visitors, but Chelsea were able to hold on for the win.
The victory means Chelsea have picked up two vital wins in the space of a week as they look to start climbing up the Premier League table after a challenging 2023.
Mauricio Pochettino will be glad of the victory, but disappointed with the way his side dealt with what should have been a comfortable end to the match.
Although this is an important victory, Chelsea remain in 10th position while Luton Town keeps their position in the relegation zone.
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