FA Cup hits and misses: Chelsea rally amid increasing uncertainty

Chelsea rally amid increasing uncertainty

Chelsea Football Club have endured a tumultuous week. The ongoing crisis in Ukraine puts such a statement into context, context that Chelsea's difficulties pale into insignificance compared to those experiencing unimaginable hardship in Europe, but it has been tumultuous, nonetheless.

Thomas Tuchel has had a week like no other in his managerial career. Sunday's Carabao Cup final on the pitch has been followed by intense questioning off it, with Roman Abramovich's ownership of Chelsea under scrutiny and dominating the agenda in light of the escalating Russian assault in Ukraine.

On Wednesday evening, those questions received a seismic response.

An hour before Chelsea's FA Cup fifth-round tie at Luton Town, Abramovich signalled the impending end of his 19-year-old reign as owner of the Blues, an association which has delivered 19 major trophies but also one which ends with the Stamford Bridge club shrouded in controversy and uncertainty.

To their credit, Tuchel's players produced a professional performance to ensure this season's FA Cup campaign was not derailed in the immediate aftermath of Abramovich's announcement. For 90 brief minutes, football was the only thing on the agenda.

Championship side Luton were dreaming of causing a major upset when Reece Burke and Harry Cornick put them 2-1 up at the break, but Romelu Lukaku's late goal secured passage to the quarter-finals after earlier strikes from Saul Niguez and Timo Werner at Kenilworth Road.

Chelsea now look ahead to Thursday's quarter-final draw and the next hurdle in their quest for a maiden domestic cup under Tuchel. Matters on the pitch provide respite, however temporary or insignificant, from a crisis gripping the club -