Chelsea survived a spirited late fightback by Luton to edge a dramatic match 3-2 at Kenilworth Road and end their four-game losing streak away from home.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side looked to be cruising to a first victory on the road since early November thanks to two goals from Cole Palmer – his second a sensational piece of individual skill – and one from Noni Madueke who scored for the second time in two games as the visitors took a 3-0 lead.
But that breathing room was sucked away by Luton during a frenetic final 10 minutes, when first Ross Barkley then Elijah Adebayo struck to offer their supporters hope of a spectacular recovery.
Yet Chelsea held their nerve, claiming back-to-back league wins for just the second time under Pochettino.
They had taken the lead after 12 minutes and it was a gift from Luton.
First, the defence was caught out up the pitch and allowed Nicolas Jackson to run in from the left and through on goal. His effort was saved well by the legs of Thomas Kaminski and the ball fell at the feet of Issa Kabore, who instead of clearing his lines played an inexplicable pass straight to the lurking Palmer who took a touch and lashed it home.
Luton looked to Barkley, the former Chelsea player, for a response and he nearly provided it almost instantly, hitting a free-kick from 20 yards out that curved around the wall and cleared the bar by inches.
Chelsea were on their worst run of away league defeats in 23 years, whilst Luton had just recorded back-to-back top-flight wins for the first time this season. Yet in the first half the visitors posed much the clearer threat, attacking with a directness that has often been lacking on the road.
After 37 minutes they got their second, and it was Madueke fresh from scoring the winner against Crystal Palace on Wednesday that got it.
The ball was worked from the left flank over to the right via Palmer playing in the number 10 role. He moved it on again to Madueke, whose route to goal was barred by Amari’i Bell. Luton’s captain backed off, encouraging the Chelsea winger to run outside him and find space to thump the ball high inside the near post into the top corner.
Luton’s key creative outlets, Barkley and Andros Townsend, had been largely nullified by Chelsea’s determined pressing and harrying.
Palmer slotted easily back into his role as the visitors’ principle attacking outlet after serving a one-match suspension, whilst Jackson and Armando Broja were lively and Malo Gusto looked an increasingly able deputy to the injured Reece James at right-back.
The third goal when it came on 70 minutes was well deserved.
Jackson was clever and strong in midfield to spin away from his man and play an early ball through the middle to Palmer. Kaminski raced out to meet him, but as Palmer reached it he outfoxed the Luton goalkeeper with the deftest roll of the ball beneath his studs, sat the covering Albert Sambi Lokonga down and knocked in Chelsea’s third.
Adebayo thought he had got one back when he headed in Alfie Doughty’s cross, but VAR called offside against the winger, before Adebayo headed his next chance against the bar.
There was life in Luton and they proved it with two goals in seven minutes to stun Chelsea.
First, Barkley headed what looked a consolation from a corner, then Adebayo reacted quickest to turn the ball home after Djordje Petrovic had saved from Doughty.
Luton pushed and pushed in the closing minutes but a determined Chelsea held firm.
Bournemouth make Unal deal permanent
Bournemouth have made Enes Unal's stay at the Vitality Stadium permanent, with the striker signing a four-year contract after a productive loan spell with the club.
Unal arrived on loan from Getafe in January and made 16 Premier League appearances throughout the second half of 2023-24.
While he largely served as a deputy to star striker Dominic Solanke, Unal did manage two goals as Bournemouth finished 12th, just one point adrift of a top-half finish.
Unal's first Premier League goal was a stoppage-time equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Sheffield United in March, while he was also on target in a 3-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion in late April.
Bournemouth set a new top-flight club record by earning 48 points in their first season under Andoni Iraola, enjoying a dramatic upturn after failing to win any of the Spaniard's first nine league games at the helm.
Unal – who missed the first half of 2023-24 with a cruciate ligament tear – told the Cherries' website: "I enjoyed testing myself in the Premier League while regaining my fitness. I am really excited for the years ahead."
LA Galaxy v FC Dallas: Estevez hails visitors' improvement
Nico Estevez feels FC Dallas have made big strides as they prepare to embark on a tough three-game road stretch, starting with Wednesday's visit to the LA Galaxy.
Dallas are unbeaten in five games in all competitions (three wins, two draws) after only winning one of their previous nine (two draws, five defeats).
They visit Dignity Health Sports Park on Wednesday before going to Los Angeles FC and Minnesota United for their next two games in MLS.
Though Estevez was furious to see his team squander a 3-0 lead in a 3-3 draw with Real Salt Lake last Saturday, he is convinced things are moving in the right direction overall.
"We have to recover because we have three away games in a row. It's going to be challenging, we go to LA and then we go to Minnesota," Estevez said.
"It's going to be hard, but there's been improvement of the team against Austin, Houston, and now, against RSL. We're going in the right direction.
"We'll review things, we'll try to find the things we have to improve, but also it's about the mentality. Some of the mistakes we made were too much like youth players, we cannot do that at the pro level."
The Galaxy, meanwhile, ended a run of four straight draws by beating the Houston Dynamo 2-1 last time out, with Gabriel Pec scoring as they went within four points of the Western Conference summit.
"The team is getting better little by little. After three ties in a row, getting back home and getting a result, the feeling is very good," Pec said.
"The team has been doing great. Also, myself. I hope I can help my team moving forward."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
La Galaxy – Gabriel Pec
Pec has scored in his last four home games for the Galaxy, becoming the first player to do so since Javier Hernandez in 2022.
Only six players in club history have scored in five consecutive regular-season home appearances, with only three (Dejan Joveljic, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robbie Keane) doing so in the last 20 years.
FC Dallas – Asier Illarramendi
As well as being one of just three Dallas players with more than one goal to his name in MLS this year (two), Illarramendi has played 15 key passes, a tally only bettered by Paul Arriola (16). That is despite the Spaniard only making six league starts this season.
MATCH PREDICTION – LA GALAXY WIN
Dallas have collected just two points on the road this season (two draws, four defeats), tied for the fewest in MLS alongside Nashville SC.
They have just two wins in their last 17 regular-season road games, though one of those two victories came at the Galaxy last October.
A repeat is not expected on Wednesday, though, with the Galaxy unbeaten in six straight home matches (three wins, three draws). They have lost only one of their last 16 regular-season games at Dignity Health Sports Park (seven wins, eight draws).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
LA Galaxy – 47.5%
FC Dallas – 26.3%
Draw – 26.2%
Sporting Kansas City v Vancouver Whitecaps: Sartini wants aggressive approach from visitors
Vanni Sartini has asked Vancouver Whitecaps to take a more “aggressive” approach to beat Sporting Kansas City in MLS on Wednesday.
Vancouver sit seventh in the Western Conference with 19 points but after a run of six matches without a win in the competition, the teams below them are catching up.
The Whitecaps failed to mount a comeback in their latest defeat to Inter Miami, losing 2-1 at home, causing them to also lose ground on the teams above them.
Sartini expects a tough game against the side bottom of the table, saying: "It's a team that are behind us in the standings and we know how important it is to win those games to put more distance because we're still in a playoff position that we need to keep.
"It's always very hard to play there, the atmosphere, with the fans on top of you, it's very intense. We need to be good, and play our soccer and be even more aggressive.
"We need to score more goals and finalise our chances. We have six games that we could've won three of them and I think we deserved that, but we didn't win any of them.
"Of course, being more clinical is an issue and we need to be better. We're working on that."
Sporting KC have just 11 points having won only two of their league games so far this season.
They have failed to win any of their previous eight MLS matches, losing each of their last five.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Sporting KC – Alan Pulido
Pulido has scored five goals in four regular-season matches against the Whitecaps. Pulido’s 1.34 goals per 90 minutes against Vancouver is the second-best ratio of any Sporting Kansas City player against a single opponent (min. 300 minutes played versus opponent).
Vancouver Whitecaps – Ryan Gauld
Gauld scored the Whitecaps’ lone goal on Saturday from the penalty spot, his 10th penalty goal since the start of the 2022 season. Only three players in MLS have scored more goals from the spot over the last two-plus regular seasons than Gauld.
MATCH PREDICTION – SPORTING KANSAS CITY WIN
Sporting KC have won four of their six home matches against the Whitecaps (one draw, one defeat including playoffs) scoring at least three times in all four wins. Vancouver have totalled just three goals over the six matches combined.
However, Kansas City have lost five straight regular-season matches for the first time since April-May 2011. Sporting’s last losing streak of six or more league matches was a seven-match run in 2006.
Vancouver are winless in six straight MLS matches (three draws, three losses) after a 2-1 loss to Inter Miami on Saturday. The Whitecaps have totaled three goals in the six games after averaging 2.1 goals per match (17) in their first eight league matches this season.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Sporting KC – 44.8%
Draw – 27.9%
Vancouver Whitecaps – 27.3%
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