Chelsea returned to winning ways on the road with a 3-2 triumph at Kenilworth Road today, despite a late comeback by Luton Town. Cole Palmer scored twice, and Noni Madueke contributed an outstanding goal.
Despite having lost their previous four Premier League away games, the costly-to-assemble Blues appeared certain to earn all three points with less than ten minutes of regular time remaining and a 3-0 lead.
In the twelfth minute, Palmer secured the lead for the Blues by capitalizing on a mistake made by Luton defender Issa Kabore to deliver a powerful angled shot that evaded Thomas Kaminski.
In the 37th minute, Luton were caught off guard when Chelsea left-back Levi Colwill assisted Palmer on the break; Palmer then passed the ball to Madueke, who had just enough space to shoot high into Kaminski’s net.
Nicolas Jackson repaid the favor with the third goal in the 70th minute, when he dissidently passed Luton’s defense to Palmer, who maintained composure to pass Kaminski and defy a swarm of defenders before slotting home.
Ross Barkley, a former Chelsea midfielder, appeared to have given the hosts some consolation with his 80th-minute header from an Alfie Doughty corner kick. Elijah Adebayo narrowed the deficit to one goal after seven minutes, but Luton was unable to equalize.
The victory placed Chelsea in tenth place, while Luton maintained their position in the relegation zone at eighteenth.