Chelsea had to twice come from behind before eventually avoiding a huge FA Cup shock as they beat Luton 3-2 in an entertaining fifth-round tie.
The match took place shortly after Roman Abramovich confirmed that he was looking to sell the club, and there was a real danger of it becoming a worse night for the Blues when Reece Burke opened the scoring early on for Luton.
Saul Niguez got the Blues level, but the Hatters went into the break in front after Harry Cornick’s well-taken goal.
Chelsea were far from convincing for much of the second-half, but goals from Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku eventually turned things around and booked a place in the quarter-final draw for Thomas Tuchel’s side.
It leaves the Blues one match away from a return to Wembley, where they were beaten by Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
Abramovich released his statement an hour before-kick, as pressure on the Russian continues to grow and talk of sanctions continues due to his alleged association with Vladimir Putin.
There was upheaval off the pitch for Chelsea and big problems on it after two minutes, as Burke put Luton in front. Luke Berry swung in the corner, Burke got across his man at the near post and glanced the header past a rooted Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Daniel Potts had a big chance to double the lead as Chelsea continued to struggle with crosses into the box, but he headed straight at the goalkeeper.
Less than a minute later, the Blues were level. Werner was tackled on the edge of the box, the ball rolled out to Saul and he sent a lovely composed first-time finish into the bottom corner.
Saul was denied by Harry Isted when presented with a huge opportunity to get his second, before Kenedy’s powerful strike was turned over the bar by the goalkeeper.
Despite Chelsea looking to be increasingly in control of the match, it was Luton who retook the lead just before the break. Carlos Mendes Gomes sent Cornick through on goal, the striker had only Kepa to beat and he did just that with a lovely finish.
Midway through the second-half, Luton were still in front and comfortably so, as Chelsea failed to create any sort of clear-cut chances and their frustrations grew.
But all it took was one moment of quality for the Blues to get themselves level again. Ruben Loftus-Cheek floated a great ball over the top, Werner needed one touch to bring it down and another to cushion an effort into the far corner.
The comeback was complete with just over ten minutes remaining. Werner was visibly full of confidence after his goal, and he found himself in a great position to square the ball into the box and Lukaku had a simple finish in the middle.
Chelsea saw out the rest of the match with minimal fuss to continue their FA Cup progress, but it won’t be events on the pitch filling the back pages.
