Chelsea 3 Luton Town 0
Mauricio Pochettino’s side welcomed Luton Town to Stamford Bridge, with both sides looking for a first win of the season. Anything but victory would mean The Blues going without a win in their first three Premier League games for the first time since the 1998/99 season.
Club record signing Moises Caicedo made his home debut, while former Chelsea player Ross Barkley made his debut for The Hatters. Pochettino knew that there would be serious questions to be answered if they failed to win this game with Todd Boehly in attendance at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea dominated from kick-off, keeping possession and looking to unlock the Luton defence. Chilwell hit an inswinging free kick into the box, which was half cleared, before it dropped to Sterling on the volley. He caught it sweetly and thundered a shot towards goal but Kaminski did brilliantly to hold onto the shot.
The Blues kept knocking on the door, Jackson played it to Chilwell who then laid it off to Fernandez on the edge of the box. The Argentine World Cup winner struck a shot but it went high and wide of the goal. For £105m you would expect to get a midfielder with some sort of goalscoring prowess but Enzo troubles keepers less than the club sends managers to the job centre.
Credit: @ChelseaFC
Raheem Sterling seems to have found a time machine in the summer and taken his career back to his Man City days. He picked the ball up on the right wing, cut into the box, beating three players before stroking a shot with his weaker left foot into the far corner. Stunning goal.
If he can keep this early season form up, it won’t be long before he is one of the first names on Gareth Southgate’s teamsheet on a regular basis once again. The arrival of Pochettino seems to have invigorated the winger. Last season, he looked a shadow of the player who The Blues had thought they had bought from Man City. Another Fernando Torres almost.
Nicolas Jackson is one of life’s tryers. It had not been clicking in front of goal for him but he was making all the right runs into the channels and his energy levels were second to none. As the ball was played into him, he produced a sublime backheel into the path of the advancing Chilwell.
He ran straight into the middle of the penalty area with the goal at his mercy. Instead of taking the easy option and shooting for goal, he weirdly opted to try and pass the ball through a defender to Sterling to his right. Wasted opportunity.
It was more like a defender trying to clear the ball from the path of a striker, he was stood in the middle of the goal, only the keeper in front of him. Sterling however was ten yards to his right with such a tight angle to deal with. It made no sense whatsoever.
Luton then had their first real opportunity of the game as a direct ball down the right flank was cut back into the box. It found Morris, who then laid it off to Adebayo, with the striker slotting the ball square to Giles. It was almost like a rugby play. The Luton player struck a thunderous shot at the Chelsea goal.
Credit: @ChelseaFC
Not to be outdone by Chilwell, Sanchez decided to join the circus auditions. If anyone thinks that the ex-Brighton keeper is the answer to their stability problems in between the sticks, think again. He seemingly tried to swot the ball away like an annoying wasp, barely connected with it, but flicked it just enough for the ball to loop up in the air and caught it at the second attempt in front of his face. By this stage, people were looking forward to seeing the lion tamer.
Chelsea started the second-half in confident mood, looking to find that second goal to put the game to bed. They worked it out wide to Gusto who put an inch perfect ball across the box to find an unmarked Sterling who swept it into the back of the net. Goodnight Vienna for The Hatters.
Sterling was causing Luton all sorts of problems, he then turned provider as he whipped a low ball across the six yard box. As The Hatters’ defenders admired the cross, Jackson slid in to poke it passed Kaminski in the visitors’ goal. His first goal for Chelsea.
By this stage, Rob Edwards must have been fearing the worst. With fifteen minutes left, the Luton manager must have pondered whether this was going to be four or five. The visitors tried to find a goal which would only have been of consolation by this stage but they just could not find a way through.
Mauricio Pochettino had got his first win as Chelsea manager and fist pumped the air like they had just defeated Man City at the Etihad Stadium, maybe he was feeling the pressure of Todd Boehly in the stands who was drinking the world’s most expensive cup of coffee. At the last count the drink he was sipping in his executive box had cost him £5.25bn. Makes Starbucks seem good value for money after all.
Luton are fancied to go straight back down and you have to wonder whether this step up is too much for them already. Edwards’ side will need time to acclimatise to their new surroundings but one thing is for sure, they will need to make Kenilworth Road a fortress. It could be the first one made of terraced houses in history if they pull it off.
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