Luton 2-3 Chelsea: Mauricio Pochettino’s side survive late Luton comeback as Cole Palmer’s brace and Non Madueke strike seal back-to-back wins for Blues

Even in victory, Chelsea are capable of mining large amounts of chaos and confusion. Those old habits die hard, and so do Luton Town.

With almost 80 minutes played, this match was little more than a jog for Mauricio Pochettino's side. Luton had put up a good fight but they were 3-0 down and had yet to land a single shot on target.

They were ready. They were buried. But this is Chelsea and at Chelsea the lines of progress are never neat and tidy, and so 3-0 became 3-1 and 3-1 became 3-2 and there was a wild panic. Luton surged forward, a few crosses landed in dangerous places, but the drama never quite escalated to a crisis.

With it, Pochettino had the rarest of things – an away win after four consecutive defeats at Stamford Bridge – and a familiar reminder that trust is a scarce commodity in the strange confines of his club.

His side lacks that, but perhaps they'll turn a corner and head in a new direction. Of course, his season has been littered with such false dawns, though there was room for encouragement here too, results aside. As always, it could be traced back to Cole Palmer, who returned from suspension with two brilliant goals.

It was Cole Palmer who stole the show by bagging a brace, scoring his first goal in the 12th minute of the match and his second in the 70th minute.

Noni Madueke also found the back of the net as Chelsea emerged victorious on Saturday

The first was classy with a finish into the top corner and his second, which made it 3-0, was all about the sublime skill in the way he took the ball around the Luton keeper. In between flourishes he also played a role in Noni Madueke's brilliant goal.

Those were highlights, as was Chelsea's defense until the madness of the final fifteen minutes and the fightback that also saw a Luton goal disallowed at 3-0 and another strike hitting the crossbar before Ross Barkley and Elijah Adebayo added the fun . Good on Rob Edwards' part for making it interesting – they do everything in this division as evidenced by back-to-back wins in this game.

They believe an escape is possible and of the bottom three, their claim is by far the most credible. As for Chelsea, the turmoil of their circumstances was reflected in the four substitutions Pochettino made to the side that defeated Crystal Palace.

They include a start for Madueke in return for his winning goal off the bench on Wednesday, but a somewhat harsh demotion for Mykhailo Mudryk, who has shown some form of late. There was also a place for Nicolas Jackson ahead of Christopher Nkunku, which was perhaps more a reflection of the latter's need for a slow integration after injury than a bold show of faith in Jackson.

Whatever the distortions surrounding these decisions, and the debates they seem to provoke forever around Chelsea, this did not look like a match that would threaten repercussions.

Luton worked hard but ineffectively. Apart from one free kick from Barkley, which fell a fraction too late to get under the crossbar, they didn't create many pulses or clear chances. For what they created, Barkley was key as a man in form and potentially with a point to prove given the frustrations of his time at Chelsea.

Luton managed to score two goals in seven minutes, but that was not enough for a point

As it stands, Chelsea are in tenth place in the Premier League and Luton are in eighteenth

Pochettino had the rarest of things – an away win after four successive defeats away from home – and a familiar reminder that trust is a scarce commodity within the confines of his club.

Here too he was strong again, albeit with limited success in the final ball. Certainly not enough to give Luton a shot on target over the half.

With such unusual comfort at the back, Chelsea had the freedom to explore and the result was another dynamic performance from Conor Gallagher – they really shouldn't make the mistake of selling him next month – and two goals in the first half of considerable quality.

The former had a touch of luck in its creation, as Issa Kabore collected the loose ball after a weak shot from Jackson was saved and then promptly rolled it straight into Palmer's path. His finish across the goal and into the top corner was fantastic.

Palmer, perhaps the only bright light in a gloomy pack this season, was then involved in the second, going as far as delivering the final ball to Madueke, before the Englishman did the more meaningful part with a strike that was even better than the opener. When I found the same angle as Palmer, it was a nice hit.

Rob Edwards made two changes at half-time and initially the outcome was more or less the same: good possession, some nice moves from Barkley, lots of hard work, but no shots on target.

When they did maintain some pressure, Palmer seemed to end the match with the goal for 3-0. Credit to Jackson, he played the through ball, but it was Palmer's rolling touch to round Thomas Kamininski that made the move special.

At that stage the match was over. Because this was Chelsea, and because this was Luton, that wasn't the case. Fighting back was quite something. First it was Barkley who opened the door with a header, which in turn followed a series of chances, including an Elijah Adebayo strike that was ruled out for offside and another against the crossbar via a first-class save from Djordje Petrovic.

At 3-1, Chelsea seemed to panic and the drama escalated to 3-2. Chiedozie Ogbene caused some chaos with the cross, Alfie Doughty made a fast-twitch stop from Petrovic and Adebayo hit the ball in the finish.

Chaos from comfort – the Chelsea way.