Chelsea started with a lot of energy and intention in the cold and hail – a little snow on the ground, even! – and quickly jumped to a two-goal lead in the first quarter of an hour, thanks to two excellent submissions from Tammy Abraham.
The first goal caused Luton to complain, as technically there were two balls on the pitch when Chelsea smartly and quickly charged a throw-in, but the referee was happy to allow the game to continue (the second ball was well behind the play) and Abraham ended up perfectly from a Werner cut.
There were no doubts or complaints about the second, as Abraham headed over a slightly lost goalkeeper after a beautiful ball from Reece James.
Chelsea looked comfortable at the moment, but Kepa decided to make things interesting while he let a shot pass his hand. Chelsea’s defense was also not good, of course, with Emerson and Zouma giving his man a lot of space.
Chelsea started to work quickly in the second half and besieged the great area of Luton. The goalkeeper made a tremendous save in a Pulisic chance, but Chelsea couldn’t find a quick third. Instead, it was Luton who started to threaten, and Kepa had to make a magnificent save to keep Chelsea in the lead.
Luton’s threat did not last long, and Chelsea ended the game by bringing in Hudson-Odoi, who created some great chances before Abraham finished one to complete his hat trick.
Then, we even missed a penalty, won by Werner, but not converted. But the result was never in doubt: 3-1, Chelsea. Task completed.
Carefree.
- Many changes since mid-week, but only a handful of changes since the last FA Cup match, with Christensen losing instead of Rudiger, James instead of Azpilicueta, and Havertz and Hudson-Odoi falling to Pulisic and Abraham.
- Chelsea rolling with a 4-2-3-1 and a double pivot from Gilmour & Mount
- Equal changes in CHO for Pulisic, Havertz for Ziyech, Giroud for Abraham, Kovacic for Mount. Only 4 of the 5 allowed subs used.
- Monte captaining Chelsea’s first team for the first time. Kovacic doing the same after replacing Mount in the last 5-10 minutes.
- Kepa gives, Kepa takes
- Abraham is the first player to reach double digits in goals this season, now with 11
- Chelsea’s second hat-trick for Abraham, after against Wolves last season
- Chelsea’s third hat-trick of the season (Havertz vs Barnsley, Giroud vs Sevilla)
- Barnsley, by the way, will be our next in the FA Cup. They beat Norwich City in their fourth round match.
- Next: Wolves at home on Wednesday, then Burnley at home on Sunday
- KTBFFH
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