Premier League Soccer: Chelsea 3 Luton 0

Chelsea won their first competitive match under coach Mauricio Pochettino with a 3-0 home victory over Premier League new boys Luton Town on Friday thanks to two goals by Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson's first strike for the Londoners.

Sterling received the ball from wing back Malo Gusto, cut in from the right and weaved his way through Luton's defence before shooting low into the far corner in the 17th minute for one of his best goals in a Chelsea shirt.

After playing out a draw with Liverpool in their opening fixture, a 3-1 defeat away at London rivals West Ham last weekend means Mauricio Pochettino is still searching for his first league win since taking over as Chelsea boss.

Luton, meanwhile, have not played since their opening weekend defeat to Brighton, but with the pressure already beginning to mount on the Blues, Rob Edwards' Hatters appear to have little to lose on this short trip to west London.

When Chelsea needed a player to deliver it was Sterling who was on hand. His brilliant solo strike early on was the first time in seven matches that the Blues had scored the opening goal. Such have been their travails of late that neither the crowd nor Mauricio Pochettino's squad seemed all that at ease with a one goal advantage against newly-promoted opposition, but just as the tension began to ratchet up, Sterling was on hand to ease it, turning in Malo Gusto's low cross with a trademark finish.

We remained firmly in control but there was little further in the way of goal threat during the remainder of the first half. The level of our dominance was summed up by the 70 per cent possession figure in our favour as we went in for the break.

Although Luton did enjoy their best spell of possession after half-time, it was soon business as usual. First Chilwell was played in by a clever one-two with Jackson, but chose to pass rather than shoot and it was intercepted. From the resulting corner, Jackson swivelled for the half-volley, but it was beaten away by the keeper.

The chances kept coming, Enzo hitting the woodwork for the second time of the night when he smashed Sterling's cross against the left-hand upright.

The home fans responded enthusiastically as Chelsea recorded their first home league win since March 4 and Pochettino lived up to his promise to get the Blues playing attractive football after the struggles of last season under Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter, both of whom were fired.

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Sarah H

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