Friday’s 3-0 rout of Luton by Chelsea, driven by a brace from Raheem Sterling and a strike from Nicolas Jackson, gave Mauricio Pochettino his first Premier League victory as Blues manager.
Sterling continued his strong start to the season with a brilliant performance that included a brilliant first goal, a well-taken second goal, and then an assist for Jackson.
The England forward’s resurgence is the initial indication that Pochettino is beginning to revive a group that battled so greatly the previous campaign.
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Sterling’s career appeared to be in risk of stalling after a forgettable first season at Chelsea, but Pochettino, who only took over in July, has already brought out the best in him.
Pochettino will be hoping that Chelsea’s first home victory since March jumpstarts his reign after a 1-1 draw with Liverpool and a 3-1 loss at West Ham.
It is still early for the former manager of Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain, who is now fielding a revamped side with a youthful appearance.
Due to injuries, Pochettino was without nine members of his first team, including captain Reece James, summer acquisitions Christopher Nkunku, and Romeo Lavia.
However, Sterling, one of Pochettino’s few experienced players, set the bar high by leading by example to prevent Chelsea from having their worst season debut since 1998–1999.
Moises Caicedo of Ecuador, a midfielder, performed admirably in his debut Chelsea start following his British record $115 million transfer from Brighton.
Caicedo made an awful start against West Ham, giving up a penalty and appearing shaky after coming off the bench, but this was a more consistent performance.
While promoted Luton has a more modest goal of avoiding relegation, Chelsea has high expectations after spending more than £350 million on new acquisitions since the end of the previous season.
This was the first of the glamorous matches Luton had envisioned back when they were struggling in non-league obscurity just nine years earlier, after spending 31 years outside the top division.
The fact that Luton is the smallest team to ever compete in the Premier League has made them heavy favourites to be relegated. Just five years ago, they were competing in English football’s fourth division.