Luton Town 2-3 Chelsea: Palmer nets brace, Blues seal narrow win but stay 10th

Noni Madueke, Cole Palmer give Blues rare away win despite late Luton fightback

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

5' Gallagher's shot stopped by goalkeeper

12' GOAL! Luton Town 0-1 Chelsea (Cole Palmer)

18' Barkley's free kick over the bar

27' Yellow Card! Jacob Brown booked

37' GOAL! Luton Town 0-2 Chelsea (Noni Madueke)

51' Palmer's long shot wide out

60' Jackson's shot too straight

62' Sub! Nkunku replaces Broja

70' GOAL! Luton Town 0-3 Chelsea (Cole Palmer)

74' OFFSIDE! Adebayo’s goal disallowed

79' Adebayo hits the bar

80' GOAL! Luton Town 1-3 Chelsea (Barkley)

87' GOAL! Luton Town 2-3 Chelsea (Elijah Adebayo)

Match Rrport

Chelsea held off a late Luton fightback to end a run of four away defeats with goals from Noni Madueke and Cole Palmer earning a 3-2 win at Luton.

The Blues have endured an annus horribilis, losing more Premier League games than anyone else across the calendar year in 19, but battled to victory at Kenilworth Road despite nearly throwing away a three-goal lead in the closing stages.

They had Luton to thank for a bright start in Bedfordshire, with Issa Kabore's inviting pass out from the back picked off by Palmer who arrowed home the opener after 12 minutes.

Madueke's second, eight minutes before the break, gave Luton a real uphill task with the winger's near-post drive too powerful for Thomas Kaminski to get a hand to.

The hosts always looked capable of getting themselves back into the game but found themselves three behind when Nicolas Jackson released Palmer to coolly round Kaminski and slot home with 20 minutes to go.

Elijah Adebayo saw a comeback goal ruled out by a narrow offside by VAR but that finally appeared to give the Hatters hope, and they pulled one back from Ross Barkley's bullet header from a corner with 10 minutes to go.

Despite the crossbar denying them twice, that hope became real belief when Adebayo nodded home the rebound from Alfie Doughty's initial effort six minutes later.

But Chelsea finally showed the resilience they have lacked for much of this season to hold on to victory, and pick up a first three points on the road since November 6.

What's next?

Luton's next game is at home to Bolton on Sunday January 7 in the FA Cup third round; kick-off 2pm.

The Hatters then travel to Burnley in the Premier League on Monday January 15; kick-off 7.45pm.

Chelsea are next in action on Saturday when they host Preston in the FA Cup third round; kick-off 5.30pm.

The Blues then face an away game against Middlesbrough in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Tuesday January 9; kick-off 8pm.

Line-ups

Luton Town XI: Townsend, Thomas Kaminski, Barkley, Amari'i Bell, Gabriel Osho, Jacob Brown, Elijah Adebayo, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Alfie Doughty, Mengi, Issa Kaboré

Subs: Krul, Cauley Woodrow, Jordan Clark, Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, Carlton Morris, Mads Andersen, Chiedozie Ogbene, Ryan Giles, Chong

Chelsea XI: Thiago Silva, Axel Disasi, Conor Gallagher, Djordje Petrovic, Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke, Armando Broja, Moisés Caicedo, Levi Colwill, Malo Gusto, Nicolas Jackson

Subs: Sterling, Marcus Bettinelli, Nkunku, Mykhaylo Mudryk, Maatsen, Enzo Fernández, Lucas Bergström, Alfie Gilchrist, Alex Matos