Chelsea cling on to win 3-2 by avoiding Luton's late surge

Luton [UK], December 30 : Chelsea played out a five-goal thriller against Luton which saw the Blues walking away with a 3-2 win on Saturday at the Kenilworth Road.

Chelsea evaded a late scare following Luton's late surge in the final ten minutes of the game. A brace from Palmer and a strike from Noni Madueke sealed three points for Chelsea.

Chelsea allowed themselves to be under pressure right from the kick-off allowing Luton to claim a free kick and trouble the visitors with a set piece.

However, the early pressure was nullified when Chelsea skipper Connor Gallagher was denied at the near post by Kaminski.

Chelsea's intense pressure was rewarded in the next minutes that followed as Luton gifted them a goal. Kaminski stopped Jackson's shot, Kabore tried to clear the ball in the aftermath but ended up giving it straight to Cole Palmer who made no mistake to find the back of the net.

Ross Barkley's eyes lit up as he had a golden opportunity to score against his former club but saw his effort going wide off the post.

With 25 minutes flown away, Luton slowly started to get into the game. Caicedo gave away possession cheaply allowing the hosts to capitalize. Townsend sent the ball in looking to find Doughty at the back post. However, Chelsea managed to scramble the ball away and stay ahead in the game.

After Luton's domination, Chelsea managed to change the flow of the game and string up a few passes. The first time they managed to do so in 15 minutes, they scored a goal.

Colwill, Jackson and Caicedo combined to construct a smart passage of play down the left before playing Palmer into space outside the Luton area.

Palmer shifted the ball right to Madueke, who provided the finishing touch to bag the second goal of the game.

The first half ended in favour of the visitors with the scoreline reading 2-0.

In the second half, Chelsea continues to pile up the pressure on Luton looking to seal off the game with a third goal.

Palmer struck a shot from 25 yards but saw his hot go wide of the target. Jackson had an opportunity in the 61st minute as he got past Luton defenders, struck a shot from the edge of the box but without any power and straight to Kaminski.

Luton had their much-awaited moment when Barkley released Chong who produced a brilliant low cross that was missed by Adebayo.

Chelsea made it 3-0 with Palmer, Jackson did well to hold the ball and slip it past to the English midfielder.

Palmer rolled past the ball to put Chelsea in a comfortable position.

With the final ten minutes to go, Luton pushed hard to pull off a remarkable comeback. Barkley scored from a free header following a corner.

Adebayo made it 2-3 after Petrovic squandered the ball from Doughty's header, Adebayo made no mistake to slot the ball into the empty net.

Chelsea held on to their nerves to see off the game and walk away with three points.

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