Chelsea vs Luton Town. The FA Cup Fourth Round.
Stamford Bridge.
Match report as Tammy Abraham's hat-trick sees Chelsea ease past Luton Town 3-1 to progress to the FA Cup fifth round; misfiring Chelsea striker Timo Werner misses a late penalty for the home side
Sunday 24 January 2021 19:01, UK
Tammy Abraham's hat-trick helped Chelsea beat Luton Town 3-1 in the FA Cup fourth round to help ease the pressure on under-fire manager Frank Lampard.
Abraham had appeared to put the hosts in total control of the tie with two early goals, only for Jordan Clark's strike on the half-hour mark, with the aid of another Kepa Arrizabalaga error, to give Luton hope of a shock at Stamford Bridge.
However, Abraham was on hand to ease any home nerves with a close-range finish 16 minutes from time and despite Timo Werner missing a late penalty, Chelsea still set up a fifth-round clash at Barnsley.
The home team headed into the tie in need of a morale-boosting display after losing 2-0 at Leicester in midweek, with Lampard fielding a strong-looking line-up against their Championship opponents.
In snowy conditions in west London, Chelsea soon raced into a two-goal lead thanks to some opportunism from Abraham, albeit with controversy surrounding their 11th-minute opener as there were two balls on the pitch in the lead-up to the goal.
However, referee David Coote decided that had not affected Luton's players as Hakim Ziyech's quick throw appeared to catch the visitors napping, before Werner's pull back from the right-hand byline was guided into the bottom corner of the net by Abraham.
The forward doubled his team's lead six minutes later after some build-up play down the right involving the impressive Ziyech again and Reece James, whose cross caught Luton 'keeper Simon Sluga hesitating, allowing Abraham to loop a header into the unguarded net.
But if Chelsea thought the job was done, they were mistaken as Luton hit back after their own eye-catching move as James Bree got free to the right-hand byline, before finding Clark in the box and his half-volley - their first shot on target in the game - somehow found its way past a fumbling Kepa at his near post.
After a lengthy half-time delay reportedly caused by a faulty bell in the visitors' makeshift changing room located outside the stadium, the Premier League side stepped it up in the second half in search of the third goal to kill off the tie.
However, it was Luton who came closest to grabbing the next goal, only for Kepa to come to his team's rescue this time with a vital block to keep out Chelsea fan Harry Cornick on the hour-mark.
That was that as far as Luton were concerned, with Chelsea moving up a gear again after Callum Hudson-Odoi's introduction, with the sub playing a key role in Abraham's third, capping off a wonderful team move with his and his side's decisive third goal.
It could have been even better for Lampard had his misfiring frontman Werner converted a penalty four minutes from the end, given after Clark had hauled down the German when through on goal, only for Sluga to guess right as Chelsea made it into round five for the 23rd time in the last 26 attempts.
Frank Lampard has thanked the Chelsea fans who created a Stamford Bridge banner throwing their support behind his managerial reign in west London.
Fans group We Are The Shed created a banner reading "In Frank we trust. Then. Now. Forever," that was displayed for the first time on Sunday.
"I knew about the banner maybe a week or two ago, directly from those who put it together, who are obviously massive supporters of this club; and I was very appreciative," said Lampard. "I don't know if emotional was the word, but people who know about how I feel about this club will understand, it's a two-way thing from the first time I came here, maybe 20 years ago nearly.
"So I'm very thankful for that support, and it's great to see it at the Bridge. I feel it very strongly indeed. I know the modern world has moved on with social media there are eyes all over the world. But one thing I know is that when I'm at the Bridge, the fans have shown me huge support as a player, and now as manager here as well. So I appreciate it very much.
"All I want to do is repay that with being successful at the club, and working through a tough moment to bring a long-term success to the club. I keep saying recently there will be moments of pain, and moments that are difficult, because of the situation. And when you see the fans that are there to stick with you from now, and going forward, that's an important thing for me."
Lampard also admitted things aren't dropping for Werner after his late penalty miss means the German has scored just once in 17 appearances for club and country.
"He was a threat behind, his link up with Tammy, his link up with people around him, it's (the penalty miss) just one of those things.
"When it's not going for you, it can happen. I missed penalties, I know the feeling. I know he will feel despondent, maybe now and the last few minutes of the game, but he shouldn't be.
"It's my job and his team-mates' job to lift him and he will be fine. It was almost a sign of what's going on for Timo at the minute, it's not quite dropping for him. But there will be a time when he takes penalties without thinking about it and hits the back of the net without thinking about it.
"At the moment that's not quite the time for Timo, but it will come and hopefully soon."
Luton manager Nathan Jones said: "It was a great test for us and I'm very proud of the game we gave Chelsea.
"We gave ourselves a mountain to climb in the first 20 minutes, but I will accept responsibility for that because I wanted us to be attacking in our shape and do more than just defend.
"Once we changed that shape I thought we were excellent."
The England international once again reminded Lampard of his fox-in-the-box qualities with some real poacher's strikes on Sunday lunchtime.
All three finishes may have appeared routine to the eye, but they still required the frontman to be in the right place, at the right time to take advantage of good approach play from his team-mates.
And that means the 23-year-old has scored six goals in 13 appearances at Stamford Bridge this season, as many as he had in 21 home games across all competitions last season.
Chelsea take on Wolves at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Wednesday at 6pm, while Luton travel to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, with the Championship clash getting underway at 3pm.
The FA Cup schedule has been confirmed, with the final set to take place at Wembley on Saturday May 15.
There will be no replays this season to help ease fixture congestion.
