Romelu Lukaku edges Chelsea past Luton as Blues get set for a new era

Chelsea capped another seismic day in the Stamford Bridge club’s history by narrowly avoiding an FA Cup shock, edging past Luton 3-2 at Kenilworth Road.

Romelu Lukaku tapped home Timo Werner’s cross late on to thwart the Hatters’ dreams of a first quarter-final since 1994, on the day when Roman Abramovich signalled the impending end of his Blues reign.

Werner scored and made both Chelsea’s other goals on a solid night for the Germany forward, with Saul Niguez also clipping home.

But any notions of a nice and easy night were scotched as soon as the unchallenged Reece Burke thumped in a second-minute header for the second-tier hosts.

Harry Cornick’s collected finish put Luton 2-1 up at half-time and dreaming of a major upset over last season’s beaten FA Cup finalists.

But Chelsea’s extra power and nous eventually applied enough of a squeeze to subdue the Hatters.

And so Chelsea step into the sixth round, with eyes still firmly on another final having lost Sunday’s Carabao Cup showpiece to Liverpool on penalties.

Any uncertainty off the field most definitely permeated on to the pitch, as the Blues laboured under nine changes from Sunday and a new system to accommodate those fresh legs.

The makeshift Chelsea team looked distracted and disjointed from the off.

And Luton made them pay almost immediately.

Defender Burke headed home under little pressure from a corner where Chelsea’s marking left plenty to be desired.

The Blues were facing an uphill struggle, with a venomous home crowd ready to twist the knife at every opportunity as a group of unfamiliar visiting players grappled with the set-up.

Luton goalkeeper Jed Steer suffered a nasty-looking knee injury next, falling awkwardly on the turf under no contact from anyone