Luton 2 Chelsea 3: Ice cold Cole Palmer at the double as Blues survive late scare to secure back-to-back wins
CHELSEA held off a gutsy late fightback from Luton to claim their first away win since early November.
Two goals from Cole Palmer and one from Noni Madueke were enough to end a run of four straight defeats on the road – but only just.
Luton hit back with a powerful header from former Chelsea midfielder Ross Barkley in the 80th minute.
And again through Elijah Adebayo with three minutes of normal time left to make Chelsea sweat.
They also hit the woodwork twice and had a goal disallowed for offside as their ramshackle stadium was shaken to its foundations by the late comeback.
Chelsea had not lost four games in a row away from Stamford Bridge and they looked ripe for a fifth at a ground where some of England’s best clubs have been given a going over lately.
Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City were all put through the wringer and mega-ric Newcastle lost here just last week.
A clinical finish from Palmer in the 13th minute gave Chelsea the lead and he set up winger Noni Madueke for the second eight minutes before the break to settle any nerves in the visitors’ camp.
Madueke scored his second goal in as many matches after coming off the bench to score a last minute winner at home to Crystal Palace in midweek.
And when Palmer latched onto a through ball from Nicolas Jackson to round the keeper and make it 3-0 with 20 minutes left it should have been all over.
Some Town fans had even turned for home when Barkley made it 3-1. The ex-Blues star had been itching to make a point all game but to no avail.
His goal sparked new life into his team and Chelsea did well not to crack more than once again as they were put under the cosh in the closing stages.
Chelsea survived and claimed their first win away from home since their 4-1 thumping of nine-man Tottenham on November 6.
Chelsea boss Pochettino claimed Kenilworth Road ‘smells’ different to any other stadium.
He eventually left with nothing but the sweet scent of victory in his nostrils as his team signed off with their last game of 2023 with a hard fought three points.