COLE PALMER and Noni Madueke fired Chelsea to a narrow 3-2 win over Luton on Saturday.
Summer signing Palmer broke the deadlock in the 12th minute with a fantastic strike into the bottom-right corner.
Madueke then doubled the Blues’ advantage with a fantastic goal before Palmer thought he’d sealed all three points.
However, Luton pushed for a late comeback with goals from Ross Barkey and Elijah Adebayo piling the pressure on.
It was a thrilling finale, but Mauricio Pochettino’s side managed to see the game out.
Here’s how SunSport’s Isabelle Barker rated the performance…
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DJORDJE PETROVIC – 8
Produced a string of heroic saves, including Cech-esque effort in the dying moments to keep the scoreline at 3-2. With this performance he staked his claim to be Chelsea’s No 1 man between the sticks. Was let down by others on the pitch.
MALO GUSTO – 7
Chelsea fans are yet to see a better replacement of Reece James than Gusto.
Was aggressive on the ball throughout and was solid with his positioning.
AXEL DISASI – 6
Poor awareness in the box towards the end. When the Blues were under the cosh he failed to deal with crosses and Chelsea’s crossbar ended up being a better defender.
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THIAGO SILVA – 8
Always so reliable and the proof was in the pudding.
He made at least twice as many clearances (6) as any other player on the pitch in the first half at Kenilworth Road.
LEVI COLWILL – 6
Provided a delicious link up with Palmer and Madueke for the second goal but towards the end looked leggy on the wing.
In fairness he was playing out of his preferred centre-back position.
CONOR GALLAGHER – 6
A solid performance from the midfielder who played a role in a flurry of early warning shots from the visitors.
But gave away reckless free-kicks in dangerous areas when Chelsea were under pressure late on and at times he failed to track his runner.
MOISES CAICEDO – 6
Cost more money than Luton’s entire squad so should have shown up more. Started off looking like a beast but Barkley had him on the ropes towards the end.
NONI MADUEKE – 8
Scored a peach of a goal with his right foot while the Luton players thought he was going to cut in on his favoured left foot.
The sign of a good winger is being able to dribble at the defenders on the inside or the outside.
His twinkle toes caused the Hatters problems throughout.
NICOLAS JACKSON – 7
Played a role in two of the visitors’ goals, first with a rebounded shot for the opener which made its way back to Palmer.
He did brilliantly to thread the ball through for Palmer to slot home the third.
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ARMANDO BROJA – 6
Wasn’t up to scratch but that doesn’t necessarily mean he never will be for the Blues.
Did a job for them with a lot of hold up play, running down the wings and opened up spaces. One goal for him and the story changes.
COLE PALMER – 10
Continues to be so important for Chelsea and making such an impact since joining from Manchester City.
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Provided an excellent finish to give the Blues the lead, assisted the second and slotted home the third.
He has both scored and assisted in four different Prem games this season – more than any other player in the competition.
Substitutes
Nkunku 5
Gilchrist 6
Fernandez 5
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
