Some things are just not meant to be.
Ahead of the titanic FA Cup 4th round tie against Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge, optimism was high that the Hatters could pull off a cup shock, even more so with our hosts being on a poor run of form.
In our pre-match poll, 59% were of the view that Luton would pull off a cup shock.
Unfortunately, those dreams were shattered when the Hatters conceded two early goals, both netted by the Chelsea striker, Tammy Abraham.
After starting with a back-four, Nathan Jones opted to switch his formation and Luton grew into the game and reduced the arrears when Jordan Clark fired past Kepa in the Chelsea goal.
In the second half Harry Cornick had a great chance to score but saw his shot well saved by Kepa and the rest, as they say, is history.
A smart move by Chelsea, with some intricate passing, saw Abraham grab his hat trick and the Hatters were never going to come back from that.
Sluga, in the Hatters goal, might have been at fault for Chelsea’s second goal but the keeper redeemed himself with a series of saves including a second-half penalty that Timo Werner spurned.
The cup dream, for another season, is over and but the Luton support, following the reverse, were far from downbeat on social media, as the following comments show:
brilliant performance from the lads, COYH 🔶🔶🔶
— ello mate 〽️🇳🇬 (@mrdao03) January 24, 2021
Fantastic performance, gave them a real good game 👏
— Oh When The Town Podcast (@OhWhenTheTown) January 24, 2021
Very proud of that performance. When you look how far we’ve come from losing 4-0 to Bournemouth last year, a team relegated to giving a top 4 side a real game
— MRT (@mrtltfc) January 24, 2021
Some excellent football against a very strong Chelsea team. Boys should be proud of themselves, I certainly am. COYH
— Arron (@yeaitsarronbaby) January 24, 2021
But, on such a wonderful occasion, would it not have so much better is the game was not played behind-closed-doors, as the following comment suggests:
So proud – we did superbly well. Shows how far we've come. I just wish 4,000+ fans could have been there to show how proud we are 🧡🧡 #COYH
— David Foxen (@SAMBeastDavid) January 24, 2021
Keep those chins up, the boys done us proud in what was always going to be a big ask.
COYH’s
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PROUD OF LUTON , NATHAN ,, Played some very Neat Football …. If Only Cornick effort had Levelled it Who Knows … Confusion with 2 Balls on Pitch for The First dd not help …
Also THE ROUTE MARCH from The Changing Rooms 2 Min each way , Well Dodgy even gets an
L O L from me …. Dodgy Clocks ( sort it Arbramovich ) Yes a Couple of Neatly worked Tap ins …
We matched them for Outfield Play for a Good Percentage of Game ….
Thomas Perth West Australia ….. CONGRATS CHELSEA …
I thought we played really well & more than matched Chelsea for large parts of the match but the first goal should have been disallowed 100%. How the officials failed to spot 2 balls on the pitch at the same time is beyond me. Also as you say MH, Sluga at fault for the second although he did make a good block & pen save to keep our hopes alive. As for Cornick I’m afraid he seems incapable to put balls the opposite side of keepers. I know he has pace but I feel as Chris Winter has also previously eluded to he is becoming a liability, misses too many chances & loses possession a lot also. But overall the lads did us proud, we have come a long way with a hardworking side for a club which continues to punch above its weight with limited resources. COYH.