Super Sterling impresses as Chelsea cruise past sorry Luton
The Blues expectedly started on the front foot, although Raheem Sterling was denied an early opener when Thomas Kaminski did brilliantly to hold a thunderbolt that was sent straight at him.
The forward eventually got the reward for his bright start in the 17th minute, dancing his way into the box and finding enough space to slide the ball into the bottom corner, offering a reminder of what he can produce after enduring his joint-lowest goalscoring league campaign since 2012/13 last term.
Luton came close to creating an opening of their own when Elijah Adebayo slipped the ball through for Carlton Morris to run onto, before Levi Colwill took control of the situation and stood up to Rob Edwards’ number nine.
Instead of scoring a magical equaliser, the Hatters saw Tom Lockyer and Marvelous Nakamba pick up quickfire bookings as they did everything in their power to keep up with Mauricio Pochettino’s far more expensively assembled side.
Chelsea’s chances stacked up as Ben Chilwell passed up a golden opportunity to shoot, Nicolas Jackson saw two efforts saved and Enzo Fernández hit the post.
The slender nature of their lead was still accentuated by Robert Sánchez’s reactive stop after Ryan Giles’ attempt took a deflection off Malo Gusto.
The Frenchman soon helped to extend it, though, playing the ball across for Sterling to clinically finish off his second of the evening.
Sterling then turned provider for Jackson to slide home his first Blues goal with a deflected ball across goal, as Chelsea secured their first win under Pochettino and just the sixth in their last 32 PL matches, something they will now look to build from.
They also left Luton waiting for their first win in the top flight since 1992, as the Hatters prepare to play their first matches of the season at Kenilworth Road against Gillingham in the Carabao Cup and then West Ham United in the league.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Raheem Sterling (Chelsea)
