Luton vs Chelsea: Cole Palmer's brilliance helps Blues survive late scare at Kenilworth Road

A Cole Palmer-powered performance helped Chelsea open a 3-0 lead, but a late hurrah from Luton saw them claw back two goals, but the initial deficit proved too great as Chelsea escaped with three points.

Mauricio Pochettino led his side to Kenilworth Road as they looked to string wins together after correcting the defeat to Wolves last week with a win against Crystal Palace last time out.

It was smooth sailing for the visitors for two-thirds of the game, and the height of their performance in that period ensured the contrasting dip towards the end of the game was benign.

Chelsea started in inspired form and scored early as a result when Cole Palmer pounced on a faulty pass at the edge of the box before firing with the outside of his left foot into the bottom right corner of the goal. 

In the 37th minute, Noni Madueke made it two with a brilliant set of actions, justifying his start over Raheem Sterling. The England U-21 international jockeyed his defender to open shooting space on his weak foot and let fly.

Luton improved in the second-half, but Chelsea made it three thanks to a brilliant goal from Palmer in the 70th minute.

The goal further intensified Luton’s efforts and they thought they pulled one back five minutes after Palmer scored, but VAR ruled out the goal for offside. However, they would not be denied three minutes later, as Ross Barkley fired past Guglielmo Vicario.

Elijah Adebayo scored in the 87th minute, and although Luton pushed to complete the comeback, Chelsea held on to three points.