Raheem Sterling scored twice and Nicolas Jackson netted his first Premier League goal as Chelsea defeated Luton Town 3-0 at Stamford Bridge - Mauricio Pochettino’s maiden win as Blues manager.
It took just 17 minutes for the hosts to breach the Hatters defence when the brilliant Sterling slalomed from the right side of the penalty area past three players and fired into the bottom left corner.
Chelsea - and Sterling - might have opened their account even earlier when Town failed to clear a corner, but the England international’s fierce volley flew straight into the arms of the grateful Thomas Kaminski.
Moments later, Enzo Fernandez fired inches over the bar from the edge of the box, following intelligent play by Jackson.
Luton laboured in the first half, but grew into the game and had some half-chances, notably when Tahith Chong dispossessed Chelsea’s £115m man Moises Caicedo and fired high and wide of Robert Sanchez’ goal.
Town manager Rob Edwards made two changes to his starting XI that fell to a 4-1 defeat at Brighton on opening day, with ex-Chelsea man Ross Barkley replacing Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu in midfield and Reece Burke coming in for Mads Andersen at the back. The encouraging performances of these two deputies at Stamford Bridge should create optimism in the Town ranks.
Once again, Luton’s players struggled to rise to the tempo of Premier League football, exemplified by yellow cards received by Tom Lockyer and Marvelous Nakamba for clumsy, mistimed challenges. In contrast, Thiago Silva marshalled Luton’s forwards with ease.
There were early signs that the dynamic midfield of Enzo Fernandez, Conor Gallagher and Caicedo could become a potent weapon for Chelsea this season, but it was the direct running of Sterling and Ben Chilwell out wide that caused Town the most problems.
Chilwell - named Chelsea captain in the absence of the injured Reece James - found himself through on goal in the early stages of the second half, but inexplicably decided to pass the ball, and Amari’i Bell intercepted to clear the danger.
The Chelsea onslaught continued when Jackson saw his shot parried wide by Kaminski and Fernandez’ hit the post from an acute angle.
Luton finally garnered their first shot on target just before the hour mark, and might have scored an unlikely equaliser when Carlton Morris passed along the box to Elijah Adebayo, who laid off to Ryan Giles. The marauding left back struck firmly, but his shot was deflected by the diving Marcel Gusto and produced an unorthodox save by Sanchez who flapped and then plucked the ball at the second attempt.
Luton’s moment had passed and Chelsea doubled their lead moments later. Caicedo sprayed to Gusto on the right flank, whose pass into Sterling was perfect. The forward swept across goal with his right foot into the bottom left corner and beyond Kaminski.
The hosts allowed Luton to have more of the ball and plotted to strike on the counter attack. They put the game to bed with 15 minutes remaining when Fernandez juggled masterfully in midfield before lobbing to Sterling on the right flank. His first-time cross was deflected by Bell, but Jackson showed desire to lunge into the six-yard box and poke home.
As the game petered out with Chelsea in cruise control, the scoreline belied the sense of revelry in the away end. The travelling fans greeted their team with rapturous applause at full time, once again offering the unrelenting support they will need throughout this Premier League campaign, which continues next Friday night at Kenilworth Road against West Ham.
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