He felt that the crisis in Chelsea was on the verge of further damage. Luton’s striker Harry Cornick was vying to get his team back in the lead just before halftime, and Kenilworth Road shook. The pursuers of the promotion in the championship sniffed out the FA Cup disorder.
It is impossible to follow Chelsea right now, this week of all weeks, without being distracted by the bigger, more serious picture. In other words, the unraveling of Roman Abramovich’s property amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
There have been calls in parliament to sanction the oligarch, his move to try to hand over the Chelsea administration to their charity and, on the verge of starting here, confirmation that he intends to sell the club.
From a football standpoint, Chelsea are rocked by the loss of the final penalty for the Carabao Cup on Sunday from Liverpool, albeit after a decent performance, and now they were looking at disappointment against Luton.
They managed to reunite in the second half, a major relief among the emotions for Thomas Tuchel, not least as the two struggling strikers of the manager reversed the tie. After a tactical change to 3-5-2 that put them side by side, Timo Werner scored an equalizer with a fine touch and a finish. He then crossed low to the right for Romelu Lukaku to slide home the winner. Despite Luton’s battle, especially in the first half, Chelsea had too much.
Shortly after 6 pm, Abramovich released his statement on the planned sale. He will not want to withdraw his 1.5 billion pounds in loans, and the net proceeds from the change of ownership, he said, will be donated to a charity fund that will benefit the victims of the war in Ukraine. Abramovich’s name would be heard at various points by Chelsea fans. “You are uncomfortable,” the hosts replied.
The story unfolds quickly and, as at Wembley on Sunday, casts an inevitable shadow over the game. What is the point of everything, including football, when war tore apart a country?
Against the background of existential issues, Tuchel’s task was to direct Chelsea to the sixth quarter-final of the FA Cup in seven seasons, and as he made radical changes to his final line-up for the Carabao Cup, it was important that his opponent, Nathan Jones, did so. . kind of. For Luton’s manager, the Middlesbrough and Coventry Championship matches on Saturday and Tuesday, respectively, are crucial.
Luton started with fierce intensity – the players ate with the audience and vice versa – and were ahead two minutes later when Reese Burke reached Luke Berry’s corner in front of Malang Sar to send a loop with his head in the far corner. It felt like Chelsea were still trying to figure out who was who and where. Tuhel started with Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the middle of the back three, while Kennedy had Chelsea’s first start since January 2018.
Tuhel’s team is stabilizing. As they began to crawl forward, Saul sent a header straight at Harry Isted. What a night it was for the reserve goalkeeper. He had joined in instead of Jed Stear, who had twisted his ankle in a horrible way, only for his third appearance in Luton. The other two were in the Football League trophy.
When Saul scored an equalizer – his first goal for Chelsea – after a good job at Mason Mount without a break and a break from the ball by Werner, Chelsea reached out to the Jugler. They created a bunch of situations, the best of which was one on one for Saul, whom Isted saved. There was a Kennedy rocket that the porter overturned; Lukaku’s shot, which made a good save, and the moment Isted misjudged Antonio Rüdiger’s long ball and missed it.
Luton felt that Chelsea was vulnerable. Dan Potts squandered a chance with a header after rising high in the 26th minute while his team created problems with their direct running. They turned the tie upside down when Admiral Musque released Kornik behind Chelsea’s high line of defense. The attacker’s finish was marked by icy calm. He was apparently on the line despite Chelsea’s protests, as Sarr was late to leave.
Brick needed more than so many players. It was gloomy for Lukaku and Werner until the middle of the second half, but everything changed quickly after the tactical change of the manager.
Werner looked uncertain, his touch heavy. He had given the ball away terribly. But that came together for him when Loftus-Cheek, who excelled with the ball at those feet, especially when driving forward, played a long pass up into the inner left canal. This time Werner’s control was excellent and the finale, the body open to the side leg, was true. A moment later, Werner became a supplier and Lukaku was a grateful beneficiary. There was nothing left for Luton.