Superb strikes from Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke earned an important victory at Luton Town, who almost produced a stunning second half fightback.
Palmer opened the scoring with a clean 12th-minute strike at Kenilworth Road, having latched onto a sloppy Issa Kabore pass, with Noni Madueke smashing in a good finish to double the lead.
In the second half, Palmer thought he killed the match by rounding goalkeeper Kaminski but goals from Ross Barkley and Elijah Adebayo saw Luton produce a spirited - though failed - fightback. Mauricio Pochettino's team hung on to earn a vital three points but will hope for a better 2024.
Nizaar Kinsella was at Kenilworth Road witnessing Chelsea's last game of 2023.
Chelsea line up
Djordje Petrovic - 7
The Serbia international handled the aerial bombardment and long ball well.
Malo Gusto - 5
The Frenchman gave away some cheap free-kicks and was poor defensively, allowing Doughty to bombard the Blues with crosses.
Axel Disasi - 6
A secondary presence to Silva but coped as well as you could hope against such relentless pressure.
Thiago Silva - 7
The 39-year-old brilliantly cleared a host of crosses into the box, handling Luton's main threat and blocking many long-range shots.
Levi Colwill - 6
The 20-year-old improved upon a poor game against Palace. He was adequate in his one-versus-one battles and accomplished in his passing.
Moises Caicedo - 6
Caicedo battled well against a physical Luton team and blocked a goal-bound Jacob Brown shot at the end of the first half.
Conor Gallagher - 6
The stand-in captain missed a big chance early on but was overworked in the middle but never lacked commitment.
Cole Palmer - 8
Palmer showed off his beautiful ball-striking ability to open the scoring and killed the game by rounding the goalkeeper and rolling the ball into the net. His decisive final third play marked him out as the man of the match.
Noni Madueke - 7
Noni Madueke's dribbling caused Alfie Doughty problems all afternoon, setting up a great chance for Conor Gallagher before beating him to smash a finish past Thomas Kaminski. He has become a star player almost overnight.
Armando Broja - 5
The Albania international looked classy in possession but needs to find a way to be more of a goal threat. He was substituted in the 60th minute.
Nicolas Jackson - 6
The Senegal international dragged his team up the pitch with direct dribbling to set up Palmer's opener and third goal.
Substitutes
Christopher Nkunku - 5
The France international played the last 30 minutes as a striker and struggled to impact such a chaotic game.
Enzo Fernandez - N/A
Alfie Gilchrist - 7
The academy graduate produced one brilliant last ditch tackle to save Chelsea a last-minute attack and earn him a player rating.
