Luton out of FA Cup after Abraham hat-trick wins tie for Chelsea
Luton Town are out of the FA Cup after a 3-1 defeat by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea seized control of the tie in the early stages, moving 2-0 up after 2 goals from Tammy Abraham.
Jordan Clark brought Luton back to within one and Harry Cornick would see a great chance to equalise saved, but a third goal from Abraham ended the contest.
Timo Werner would miss a penalty late on for the home side, but they’d already done enough to book a place in Round 5 and a tie against Barnsley in the next round at Luton’s expense.
A few days on from being beaten elsewhere in West London by Brentford, Jones’ side returned to the capital to test themselves against Frank Lampard’s team on a snowy afternoon.
After a steady 10 minutes, Chelsea then seized the initiative with two goals in quick succession.
The first came when a quick throw down the Chelsea right released Werner, who teed the ball back from Abraham to fire into the bottom corner. Luton were unhappy as two balls were briefly on the pitch when the throw was taken, but the referee ignored that protest and the goal stood.
It would then be 2-0 seven minutes later, as Reece James punted a cross from the right into the box, and Abraham headed home for 2-0.
Chelsea could’ve added to their margin, with Abraham and Christian Pulisic coming close to grab a third first half goal.
But it was Luton that would get the game’s third goal. On the half hour mark, James Bree was able to make space before pulling the ball back for Clark, and his first time shot crept in despite Kepa Arrizabalaga in the Chelsea goal grabbing a hand to it.
Simon Sluga denied Mason Mount in the latter stages, before Cornick saw a header saved by Kepa in first half stoppage team.
Sluga would then deny Pulisic just after the break, before Hakim Ziyech had a shot blocked as Luton tried to stay in the game.
They then nearly grabbed an equaliser on the hour mark, after a breakaway move by Dan Potts released Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu and then Cornick, who saw a shot saved by Kepa.
Kepa would then also make a save from Tom Lockyer, although the Luton defender’s header was ruled offside.
But with 16 minutes remaining, Chelsea would restore their two goal advantage as Abraham collected his hat-trick goal, with the home side’s number 9 tapping home after good build-up work by substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Luton’s margin was nearly made worse after that, as a Clark foul on Werner gave Chelsea a penalty, but Sluga denied the German striker’s spot-kick.
However, it was still no way back for the Championship side, who gave a good account on themselves but will now turn attention exclusively to league matters for the rest of the campaign, starting with next weekend’s clash against Blackburn.