LUTON, England — Appropriately enough, Chelsea’s money made the difference in the end. Confirmation that Roman Abramovich will sell the Blues came around an hour before the start of a Wednesday match in which Luton Town threatened to show them just how far they could fall without their owner’s financial clout.
Twice the Championship side led, first through Reece Burke’s second-minute header and then again after Saul Niguez’s equaliser as Harry Cornick raced clear to slot a cool finish past Kepa Arrizabalaga. The game swung in Chelsea’s favour in the second half, though, aided by substitutes Christian Pulisic, Harvey Vale and Reece James as first Timo Werner scored before turning provider for Romelu Lukaku to slide home the winner 12 minutes from time to secure a 3-2 victory.
Werner and Lukaku cost more than £150 million combined in transfer fees, the latter signed last summer in a club-record deal that will now rank as the final act in the lavish spending under Abramovich that has totalled more than £2 billion since he bought the west London outfit in 2003.
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Chelsea’s wealth has made them largely impervious to FA Cup shocks. During Abramovich’s 19-year tenure, only twice have they lost to lower-league opposition in this competition: a 4-2 defeat to League One Bradford City in 2015 and a 2008 reverse to Championship side Barnsley.
Against the backdrop of uncertainty over their future ownership, rarely have Chelsea felt as vulnerable as this, and the majority of the 10,140 fans inside Kenilworth Road were not going to let them forget it. “You’re getting sold in the morning,” chanted Luton’s gleeful fans to an away end that had already erected a banner proclaiming that part of the ground the “Champions of the World section” in recognition of last month’s Club World Cup triumph.
Abramovich’s ownership brought into sharper focus…
Source : espn
