Cole Palmer scored a brace, and Noni Madueke scored as Chelsea survived a late scare from Luton Town to claim an important 3-2 victory at Kenilworth Road on Saturday, ending their four-game losing streak away from home.
Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea side was in control. It dominated play in the first half as Palmer opened the scoring in 12 minutes of play before Madueke doubled Chelsea’s lead in the 37th minute.
Palmer slotted the third goal for Chelsea in the 70th minute, but the Hatters fought back and pulled a goal back through Elijah Adebayo, but his header was ruled out for offside.
Luton mounted more pressure in the second half and pulled one goal back as former Chelsea midfielder Ross Barkley netted in the 80th minute. Elijah Adebayo added the second goal three minutes before full time.
Pochettino expressed satisfaction with his team’s performance while noting that much work still needs to be done.
“I’m so pleased because we need to be great to beat Luton. It’s difficult to play here,” Pochettino said.
“We are a young team. They need to work together to create trust and confidence.
“This type of result when you need your teammates to fight with you will be really good.”
On Thiago Silva’s visible frustration at the final whistle, Pochettino added: “Thiago is like this. He is always moaning and never happy, but that is good.”
Pochettino’s first competitive win as Chelsea boss came in the reverse fixture against Luton in August.
But they have struggled poorly since then and arrived at Luton hoping to avoid finishing 2023 with a 20th league defeat in a calendar year.
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