Chelsea 2-0 Luton Town 
by Layth Yousif 
at Stamford Bridge

CHELSEA edged past the valiant efforts of Jack Wilshere’s impressive Luton Town side to set up a clash against Leeds United in the third round of the League Cup.

A 50th-minute opener from evergreen veteran Danny Welbeck on his debut for Chelsea, before an own goal from Hakeem Odoffin following trickery from the Blues Brazilian teen talent Estevao was enough to beat the Hatters 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on Thursday evening, in Xabi Alonso’s first competitive home game in charge.

Speaking after the match, the Hatters highly-rated young boss Wilshere reflected, saying: “My message to the players is be really proud,” the 34-year-old former England international adding he was: “really proud of the players for competing the way they did.”

With the close of the summer transfer window fast approaching Enzo Fernandez was left out of the Chelsea squad by new boss Alonso. When asked about the Argentine’s omission, new Blues boss Alonso said: “We assessed situations, individual and collective and we have decided he is not in the squad for today.”

Suitors Manchester City have to be prepared to break the bank to land long-term target Fernandez – who featured for the Argentina side at this summer’s World Cup, including losing to Spain in the final. The coveted 25-year-old has been unable to negotiate a pay hike with the Blues, with the west Londoners club in a relaxed position regarding any possible exit as the former River Plate and Benfica attacker still has six years remaining on his contract.

In front of 32,310 assembled at the Bridge, Chelsea started with a strong side, including England World Cup teammates Cole Palmer, and new signing from Aston Villa, Morgan Rogers, in a bid to build on their 3-2 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Monday evening. Interestingly, on the bench for Chelsea was Reggie Watson, the son of former Wigan midfielder Ben, who would have become the club’s fourth-youngest player of all time, at the tender age of 16 years and 214 days, if he had made an appearance.

While it was noticeable that Blues keeper Roberto Sanchez was also among the substitutes, with 21-year-old 6ft 7in keeper Mike Penders getting a League Cup start, perhaps it was more a case of the shaky netminder Sanchez getting used to being a substitute, after the news broke shortly before kick off that Chelsea had agreed a deal with Aston Villa to pay £7.5m for Emi Martinez.

Back to on field matters, Wilshere came into the clash with a win and a draw under his belt that saw the Hatters lie in third place in the embryonic League One table as the Bedfordshire side aim for a return to the Championship. Which perhaps explained the large number of changes the former Arsenal and England midfielder made.

As the sun set over SW6, turning the clouds a beguilingly iridescent orange, nearly as tangerine as Luton’s kit, it was the billionaires of Chelsea that made the brighter start, Hatters keeper Josh Keeley saving twice from the lively Palmer in the opening stages.

It was Keeley again who denied Chelsea, when diving full length to parry Blues captain Reece James’ free-kick in the 18th minute.

While Estevao fired narrowly wide four minutes before the break, Rogers hit the bar and Palmer fired over, credit had to be given to Wilshere’s committed Luton side, who refused to be cowed by their Premier League opponents, cheered on by their vociferous travelling support of more than 4,000, which, at times, turned the Bridge into Kenilworth Road.

However, the Blues’ dominance eventually told when Alonso’s side went 1-0 ahead five minutes after the restart, through evergreen veteran Welbeck, who headed home Mali Gusto’s cross after being fed by Estevao.

Speaking after the game, Welbeck, the 35-year-old former Manchester United and Arsenal striker said: “It’s really nice to get a goal on your debut and to get off the mark right from the start. So, I am really pleased with that.”

“More importantly, I’m pleased to get through to the next round, and we’ve got to stand strong in every single competition this season.”

Eight minutes later Welbeck nearly doubled the lead but dragged his low effort wide of Keeley’s far post.

Undaunted, Wilshere’s Hatters swept forward, with substitute Isaiah Jones firing wide, prior to Palmer clipping the apex of bar and post at the other end, as the game opened up. Livewire Jones then powered forward before releasing the ball to Kasey Palmer, whose stinging effort went just past Penders’s right-hand post.

As the clock ticked down, Estevao’s trickery in the box forced an own goal from Hatters No2 Odoffin, who put through his own net after the Brazilian teenager’s low drive across keeper Keeley to make it 2-0 in the 79th minute to settle proceedings. 

Palmer and Joao Pedro then had chances superbly saved by Keeley, with substitute Jamie Gittens also thudding the post in added time as Chelsea made it through to round three. As for Wilshere’s progressive Luton, the future looks very bright.