"Don't bench them again", Two Chelsea players hailed in Luton's 5-goal thriller

Chelsea held off a late Luton fightback to end a run of four away defeats with goals from Noni Madueke and Cole Palmer earning a 3-2 win at Luton.

The Blues have endured an annus horribilis, losing more Premier League games (19) than anyone else across the calendar year, but battled to victory at Kenilworth Road despite nearly throwing away a three-goal lead in the closing stages.

They had Luton to thank for a bright start in Bedfordshire, with Issa Kabore’s inviting pass out from the back picked off by Palmer who arrowed home the opener after 12 minutes.

Madueke’s driving near-post second, eight minutes before the break, gave Luton a real uphill task, though the hosts always looked capable of getting back into the game.

That finally looked out of sight when Nicolas Jackson released Palmer to coolly round Kaminski and slot home a third with 20 minutes to go. However, Elijah Adebayo briefly gave them hope with a close-range header – only for VAR to spot a narrow offside in the build-up.

That hope turned to real belief when Ross Barkley’s near-post header nestled in the far corner with 10 minutes to go, and six later Adebayo nodded home Alfie Doughty’s rebound to get Kenilworth Road rocking.

But Chelsea finally showed the resilience they have lacked for much of this season to hold on to victory and pick up the first three points on the road since November 6.