Chelsea booked their place in the FA Cup quarter-finals against Luton Town but it wasn’t as much of a straight-forward evening as the Blues expected.
All of the pre-match talk was dominated by discussion of Roman Abramovich's decision to sell the club after a near-20-year reign at Stamford Bridge.
Thomas Tuchel ’s men then looked set to be on the end of an almighty FA Cup shock as the Hatters twice took the lead at Kenilworth Road.
Goals from Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku got Chelsea back on track though as thoughts once again turn to the current ownership situation.
With that being said, football.london takes a look at how, if at all, the game was called last night.
THE TELEGRAPH
At times it felt as if the uncertainty over Chelsea’s future, after Roman Abramovich ’s seismic announcement that he was selling the club, was overwhelming them both on and off the pitch.
Twice they were heading out of the FA Cup and it appeared set to be a night that would belong to Luton Town, a famous night on their own resurgence back through the leagues, but it was what will be Abramovich’s last big investment in Chelsea who finally earned them a place in the quarter-finals.
The Russian billionaire sanctioned the £97.5 milion signing of Romelu Lukaku and although the striker has struggled this season – and Chelsea fans will now wonder if the club will continue with such purchases – he eventually claimed the winning goal.
By the time they play that last-eight tie Abramovich may well be gone – an extraordinary turn of events in these extraordinary times – and Chelsea looked like a team who did not know what had hit them; who did not know what was going on. They seemed as uncertain as the club’s future.
THE GUARDIAN
It felt as if the crisis that has enveloped Chelsea was about to take on yet more collateral damage. The Luton striker, Harry Cornick, had raced through to put his team back in front just before half-time and Kenilworth Road was rocking. The Championship promotion chasers scented an FA Cup upset.
It is impossible to follow Chelsea at the moment, during this week of all weeks, without being distracted by the broader, more serious picture. In other words, the unravelling of Roman Abramovich’s ownership amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
There have been calls in parliament for the oligarch to be sanctioned, a move by him to try to hand over stewardship of Chelsea to their charitable foundation and, on the verge of kick-off here, confirmation that he intends to sell the club.
They were able to gather themselves in the second half, relief chief among the emotions for Thomas Tuchel, not least as it was the manager’s two struggling strikers who turned the tie around. After a tactical tweak to 3-5-2 that put them alongside each other up front, Timo Werner scored the equaliser with a fine touch and finish. And he then crossed low from the right for Romelu Lukaku to slide home the winner. Despite Luton’s fight, particularly in the first half, Chelsea had too much.
MAILONLINE
Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been widely praised by Chelsea fans after shining as a makeshift centre-back in the side's 3-2 win against Luton on Wednesday.
The Blues were looking to book their place in the quarter-finals of the competition, but they got off to the worst possible start when Reece Burke put Luton ahead inside two minutes.
Thomas Tuchel's side hit back through Saul Niguez, yet they went into the break behind as Harry Cornick restored Luton's lead in the 40th minute.
It appeared that Chelsea were in real danger of being knocked out by their Championship opponents, but second half goals from Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku got the job done and ensured that the west London outfit are now just one game away from another trip to Wembley.
THE MIRROR
The travelling fans sang Roman Abramovich ’s name all night.
And for much of this rollercoaster FA Cup tie, it looked as if the Chelsea players had taken their eye off the ball.
It has been such a seismic few days in the history of the club you could almost forgive Chelsea but it would not have been much of an excuse had they gone out.
Ultimately, it took Romelu Lukaku’s late winner to steer them into the sixth round but that was the first time they had gone ahead in a cup tie which often threatened to slip away from them.
Championship promotion chasers Luton were excellent, they gave Thomas Tuchel’s men one hell of a scare and looked ready to pounce on the uncertainty surrounding Chelsea.
