Chelsea vs Luton Town FC (25th Aug 2023)

Match Report | Chelsea 3-0 Town

he Town suffered their second successive away defeat in the Premier League following the loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The hosts opened the scoring early on through a spectacular solo effort from Raheem Sterling, who caused problems for the Hatters’ defence all evening.

A second goal for Mauricio Pochettino’s men came in the 68th minute when Sterling once again finished well from a Malo Gusto cross before a third goal came in the form of a Nicolas Jackson tap-in seven minutes later.

Rob Edwards made two changes to the side that lost at Brighton & Hove Albion on the opening weekend of the season, with former Chelsea man Ross Barkley making his debut, coming in for Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu and Reece Burke coming back from injury to replace Mads Andersen.

Looking to bounce back from their 3-1 defeat to West Ham last Sunday, Chelsea started the game in a fierce pursuit of a goal and almost found it just five minutes in when England international Sterling was played in down the right-flank, but a strong block from Hatters’ captain Tom Lockyer, denied the hosts an opener.

Minutes later, Sterling looked to have opened the scoring when his volley from the edge of the box fizzed through a host of Luton bodies, only to be denied by a stunning reflex from Thomas Kaminski.

Town’s first chance came in the eighth minute of the game when British record signing Moises Caicedo was dispossessed in midfield, sparking a quick reaction from Tahith Chong, who drove into the box, beating two players but firing his effort high and wide.

The momentum then fell back into Chelsea’s hands, with fine margins denying the Blues an opener, when some tricky play from the hosts saw the ball fall into the path of Enzo Fernandez inside the area, but the Argentinian fired his effort narrowly over the crossbar.

The Chelsea pressure continued to mount and the breakthrough came in the 17th minute when the lively Sterling dribbled past two Town players and calmly slotted his effort into the bottom-left corner to give the hosts the lead.

With set-pieces looking like the best chance of a Luton equaliser, Edward’s men came close to levelling the score in the 42nd minute when a Ryan Giles corner met the head of Barkley, but the 29-year-old’s near-post header rose just over the bar.

The second-half began as the previous half finished, with Chelsea keeping the ball well and looking to breakdown the Luton defence. Pochettino’s men should have doubled their advantage in the 50th minute when Ben Chilwell was released by a Jackson back-heel, but the marauding full-back opted to try square the ball instead of firing past Kaminski.

Looking to withstand the Chelsea pressure, the Hatters stayed compact, patiently waiting for their opportunity to break-away and their first chance of the half came in the 61st minute when a fierce strike from Giles deflected off Gusto, forcing an unsteady reflex save out of Robert Sanchez.

But the Chelsea pressure continued to wear on the Luton defence and what felt like an inevitable second goal for the blues came in the 68th minute when a whipped cross from Gusto fell into the path of Sterling once again, who finished well into the bottom corner to double the hosts' advantage.

Pochettino’s men smelt blood and found the net a third time, seven minutes later, when some technical play from Fernandez released Sterling down the right-flank, who squared into the path of Jackson for a tap-in at the back-post.

A chance of a consolation and something for the loud travelling fans to celebrate came late on for the Town in the 85th minute when Carlton Morris flicked the ball into the path of Jacob Brown, but the forward’s powerful effort rose over the crossbar.

Luton Town: Kaminski, Kaboré (Doughty 70’), Burke (Andersen 77’), Lockyer, Bell, Giles, Nakamba, Barkley (Ruddock-Mpanzu 77’), Chong (Ogbene 77’), Morris, Adebayo (Brown 70’).

Subs not used: Krul, Berry, Woodrow, Johnson.

Attendance: 39,893 (3,054 Hatters)

Rob Edwards | "I saw an improvement"

Luton Town manager Rob Edwards gave his post-match reaction after the Premier League defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

“We don’t like losing, I’ve got to say that,” said Edwards. “But when our supporters are clapping us off like that at the very end of the game, it makes me really proud and it shows we’ve done something right.

“We know we want to win games and we know we want to get points, but I saw an improvement from the game at Brighton and I think everyone can agree with that.

“I saw us compete with a top team for massive parts of the game, that’s a huge thing to be proud of. What we need to do now is to continue to work very hard, those moments at both ends of the pitch are really important now.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1dRP5OJiPY – Rob Edwards post match interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IAEm6cVq1I – match highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny32ZVu-tQk – extended match highlights

Classy Sterling stars as Luton are beaten by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge

Premier League: Chelsea 3 Luton Town 0

Luton were beaten by a Raheem Sterling-inspired Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this evening as their quest for a first Premier League point of the season continued.

The England international, who has made a fine start to the season under new Blues manager Mauricio Pochettino, demonstrated just what a player he can be, with two clinical finishes and an assist to down a dogged Hatters side.

Town boss Rob Edwards made two changes for the clash live on Sky Sports as Ross Barkley came in for his Luton debut replacing Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu, Reece Burke also back from injury, as Mads Andersen dropped to the bench.

Up against a side assembled for the small matter of £441.2m with two £100m players, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez operating in midfield, the Hatters set out to try and stay in the game as long as possible in the early stages.

With Edwards confirming Thomas Kaminski was in possession of the goalkeeping jersey despite the arrival of Tim Krul, the Belgian showed just why that was the case on six minutes with a truly stunning save from Sterling.

The dropping ball was fairly hammered on the volley by the England international from just eight yards out, but somehow Town's number one was able to not just get behind it, but also catch the effort as well.

A stumble from Caicedo saw Luton almost in with a chance moments later, Tahith Chong advancing into the area, only to slice well wide.

Chelsea as expected had the majority of the ball, causing a whole host of problems when they went forward through Sterling, but Town were able to crowd them out at the crucial moments.

Unable to get foothold of possession, the hosts began to grow in stature, some intricate link-up pay in the final third leading to World Cup winner Fernandez whistling an effort that grazed the bar.

With their dominance growing, Chelsea had the opening goal they would have been craving on 17 minutes, unsurprisingly Sterling the man to break the deadlock.

He got the ball out on the right and was able to cut in, dance past both Ryan Giles and Barkley, swerve around Amari’i Bell and pass a left footed attempt beyond the powerless Kaminski and into the bottom corner.

Town tried to hit back with the odd break, Carlton Morris crowded out, before both Lockyer and Marvelous Nakamba went into the book for ill-judged challenges, as Malo Gusto's ambitious attempt from range was exactly that.

To their credit Luton grew into the game in the latter stages of the first half, their players starting to believe in themselves that bit more, as they kept possession for a concerted period for the first time in the contest, but couldn't quite create that opportunity for Morris or Elijah Adebayo.

Looking to carry on their efforts after the break, Luton started on the front foot, Morris firing a snapshot over the top inside the opening five minutes.

They were soon on the back foot though, and somehow not 2-0 behind on 50 minutes, when a mistake by Issa Kabore was pounced upon.

Ben Chilwell sliced through the back-line but just eight yards out, and with just Kaminski to beat, Luton's defence almost accepting their fate, bizarrely tried to find a team-mate when he simply had to shoot, as it cannoned away off Bell.

Nicolas Jackson did pull the trigger, Kaminski turning it behind, as the stopper was starting to get a working over, diving on another low drive from the Senegal international.

He was called on again after Chong gave the ball away and Chelsea showed just how dangerous they can be when breaking, beating Fernandez's far post effort away.

Town then had their best chance on the hour mark, Chong getting away on the right, his crossed moved on by both Morris and Adebayo for Giles, his first time shot deflecting off a covering defender and looking like it was going to beat Robert Sanchez, who made a terrific parry, the ball fortunately dropping into his gloves.

With the game turning into a thoroughly absorbing end-to-end encounter, Sterling might have sewn the points up on 66 minutes, scuffing his effort across after escaping on the right once more.

As Luton committed bodies forward to get something from the game, it saw gaps open up at the back, and one of those proved costly with 22 minutes to go, just when Edwards was readying two changes.

This time it was Gusto clear on the right and his low cross swept home by that man Sterling for his second of the evening.

Town stuck with their alterations, Jacob Brown and Alfie Doughty on for Adebayo and Kabore, as Chelsea looked for a third, Fernandez's free kick wide of the mark.

Barkley tried his luck too when Brown was fouled by Fernandez for a booking that drew one of the cheers of the night, but Luton's problems at conceding late goals, something that needs to be eradicated, which is far easier said than done at this level, hit again on 75 minutes.

Star man Sterling turned provider this time, his ball from the right neatly tucked away by Jackson.

Edwards threw on Andersen, Mpanzu and Chiedozie Ogbene as Luton still tried to close the gap, Morris's shot winning a corner, although Chelsea should have widened the gap, Gallagher picked out just 10 yards out, but Kaminski was there.

With five left, Luton had another wonderful chance, some miscommunication at the back leading to Brown getting in, but he couldn't keep his head when faced with Sanchez and was unfortunately wayward.

Blues: Robert Sanchez, Axel Disasi, Thiago Silva, Raheem Sterling (Mason Burstow 90), Enzo Fernandez, Nicholas Jackson (Lesley Ugochukwu 83), Ben Chilwell (C Ian Maatsen 86), Conor Gallagher, Moises Caicedo, Levi Colwill, Malo Gusto.

Subs not used: Lucas Bergstrom, Eddie Beach, Marc Cucurella, Noni Madueke, Diego Moreira, Bashir Humphreys.

Hatters: Thomas Kaminski, Issa Kabore (Alfie Doughty 70), Reece Burke (Mads Andersen 77), Tom Lockyer (C), Amari’i Bell, Ryan Giles, Marvelous Nakamba, Ross Barkley (Chiedozie Ogbene 77), Tahith Chong (Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu 77), Elijah Adebayo (Jacob Brown 70), Carlton Morris.

Subs not used: Tim Krul, Luke Berry, Cauley Woodrow, Joe Johnson.

Referee: Robert Jones.

Booked: Lockyer 27, Nakamba 29, Fernandez 72, Brown 77, Maatsen 90.

Attendance: 39,893.