Prior to the game, the shock news came of Roman Abramovich officially putting Chelsea up for sale. Despite this, the players had to focus their efforts on their FA Cup match up with Championship side Luton Town and recover from Sunday’s Carabao Cup final loss to Liverpool.
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It was a much changed Chelsea side from the one that lost to Liverpool on Sunday as Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Malang Sarr, Kenedy and Saul were all given starts by Thomas Tuchel, who also gave bench spots to youngsters Dylan Williams, Lewis Hall and Harvey Vale.
Luton meanwhile, made five changes from their win against Derby County on Saturday with Dan Potts, Peter Kioso, Carlos Mendes Gomes, Luke Berry and Admiral Muskwe all coming into the team after being left out against the Rams.
First Half
Luton started quickly as expected and got a surprise opener after just 90 seconds, when Luke Berry’s corner found Reece Burke who out-jumped Sarr and looped a header into the far corner.
The opening goal didn’t slow Luton down however as they kept the pressure on Chelsea, Burke winning another header inside the box from a cross that forced Kepa to come out and punch. The home side were then forced into an early change when keeper Jed Steer rolled his ankle after coming out to claim a long ball from Saul, the man on loan from Aston Villa having to be taken off on a stretcher.
Steer’s replacement Harry Isted was called into action for the hosts instantly as Timo Werner almost got on the end of a Romelu Lukaku pass, but the young keeper claimed the ball with confidence.
Chelsea’s first real effort came on 23 minutes, when Mason Mount’s whipped cross from the right found Saul at the back post, but his header was a tame one and Isted had no issues in catching it.
The equaliser came just before the half hour mark when Luton gave the ball away needlessly in midfield allowing Mount to pounce. He fed Werner, who laid the ball off to Saul and the Spainard aimed a fine first time finish into the bottom right corner from the edge of the box.
From here, Chelsea started to grow into the game and Isted produced a fine one on one save to deny Saul his second goal, stretching out his right leg to keep the score level. Shortly after, he was called into action again, tipping Kenedy’s rasping effort from the left over the bar.
For all of Chelsea’s dominance following their equaliser, it ultimately went to waste as Luton made it 2-1 with five minutes to go in the half. Sarr was caught slacking again as the last man at the back and Harry Cornick raced onto a ball through the middle and fired past Kepa from inside the box.
Chelsea huffed and puffed to make it 2-2, but the half ended with Luton leading against the European Champions.
HT: Luton 2-1 Chelsea
Second Half
Chelsea started the second 45 minutes much brighter than they did the first and Ruben Loftus-Cheek spurned a great opportunity from a corner not long after the restart, jumping high but heading wide at the back post.
The Blues’ first substitutions were made on the hour mark, when Callum Hudson-Odoi and Kenedy came off for Vale and Christian Pulisic. Luton also brought on Cameron Jerome and Allan Campbell for Cornick and Berry.
Chelsea finally made it 2-2 on 68 minutes when Loftus-Cheek played a stunning ball over the Hatters defence to Werner, who sped away and calmly put his effort into the far corner.
The second half pressure continued from Chelsea and ten minutes after Werner levelled, a nice move down the right ended with the German playing a ball across the six yard box to Lukaku and the Belgian stuck a leg out to convert past Isted to put the Blues in front for the first time in the game.
As the clock ticked towards 90 minutes, Luton fans went berserk behind Kepa’s goal with a possible penalty shout as they thought Chelsea sub Reece James committed a handball whilst shepherding the ball out, but replays showed it hit his chest.
A goalmouth scramble proved to be Luton’s last chance to salvage an equaliser, but it came to nothing as Chelsea fans could finally breathe a sigh of relief as the Blues claimed victory to book their place in the FA Cup quarter finals.
FT: Luton 2-3 Chelsea
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Written and edited by Luka Foley (@UOGLuka)