Chelsea 3-0 Luton Town: Sterling brace & Jackson goal secure Pochettino’s first league win in charge

Chelsea won their first game of the season on Friday night, defeating Luton Town 3-0 in the Premier League.

Following the 3-1 defeat to West Ham last weekend, Chelsea faced Premier League newcomers Luton Town at Stamford Bridge. Both teams were looking to earn their first competitive win of the season.

Mauricio Pochettino made just one change from the side that suffered the London derby loss with record signing Moises Caicedo handed his first full start in a Blues shirt. 

The hosts started brightly with the first chance of the game falling to Raheem Sterling. Following a free kick, the 28-year-old found space on the penalty spot but fired his well-struck volley straight into the arms of goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski.

Chelsea dominated possession in the early stages and found their reward in the 17th minute, Sterling picked the ball up on the right side of the box, he cut inside with a fantastic solo run and slotted calmly into the bottom corner to give the hosts a deserved lead.

Following the goal, Luton settled into the game and saw more of the ball. The away side found themselves in promising positions throughout the first half but were denied any chances by some strong defending by Levi Colwill.

Pochettino’s team went into the half time break with a 1-0 lead but will have been slightly disappointed in the lack of flow and chances created after gaining the advantage.

In what was an open second half, Chelsea had a spell of opportunities in succession. The first strike from Nicolas Jackson was well saved, before the resulting corner saw Axel Disasi’s header safely fall into Kaminski’s hands.

The Blues will feel as though they had a case for a penalty when Thiago Silva was pulled down by Tom Lockyer during the corner but referee Robert Jones waved play on.

Moments later, Chelsea were unlucky not to double their lead, Sterling’s ball across goal found Enzo Fernandez but his shot from the back post struck the woodwork.

Luton had their first effort on target around the hour mark. The ball fell to Ryan Giles who’s left footed strike was well stopped by Robert Sanchez. The goalkeeper helped by a Malo Gusto block which took sting off the shot.

After a sustained spell of pressure, Sterling netted his second of the season. Gusto’s well placed cross from the right side of the box found the attacker, who tucked home to give his side some daylight on the score-line with just over 20 minutes to play.

The result was all but sealed in the 75th minute when star of the show, Sterling, was again involved. A wonderful volley cross found his strike partner Jackson on the six yard line. The Senegalese striker made no mistake tapping home to secure his first goal in a Chelsea shirt.

Rob Edwards rung the changes but his side were unable to get past a backline looking for their first clean sheet of the season.

The home side’s changes arrived in the final 10 minutes, goal scorer, Jackson, was replaced by midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu, Ian Maatsen was a straight swap for captain Ben Chilwell and finally Mason Burstow came on for man-of-the-match Sterling as the game approached the final whistle.

Chelsea earn their first win of the season with a dominant display and will look to take confidence forward into next week’s fixtures against Wimbledon in the EFL cup, and Nottingham Forest in the league.