The travelling fans sang Roman Abramovich ’s name all night.
And for much of this rollercoaster FA Cup tie, it looked as if the Chelsea players had taken their eye off the ball.
It has been such a seismic few days in the history of the club you could almost forgive Chelsea but it would not have been much of an excuse had they gone out.
Ultimately, it took Romelu Lukaku’s late winner to steer them into the sixth round but that was the first time they had gone ahead in a cup tie which often threatened to slip away from them.
Championship promotion chasers Luton were excellent, they gave Thomas Tuchel’s men one hell of a scare and looked ready to pounce on the uncertainty surrounding Chelsea.
Chelsea’s travelling support heard about Abramovich’s public announcement that he is ready to sell when they were assembling in the ground before kick-off.
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Russian billionaire Abramovich has won 21 major trophies during his 19 years in charge and therefore many will be sorry to see him go even if the British Government are determined to drive him out of town.
Chelsea have a remarkable knack of winning silverware and, after losing the Carabao Cup final to Liverpool on Sunday, the FA Cup was a quick route straight back to Wembley.
Tuchel gambled as he rested and rotated, fielded a makeshift defence and came close to paying a heavy price as twice Luton went ahead and then threw away the chance of a huge upset.
Timo Werner was arguably Chelsea’s best player as he scored, provided the assist for Lukaku’s winner and yet it was far from being a fluid team performance.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek looked uncomfortable in an unfamiliar role in the middle of a back three, Callum Hudson-Odoi was at right wing back and forgotten man Kenedy made his first appearance in four years on the other flank.
No wonder Luton took an early lead which set the tone for the cup tie. Luke Berry put over a corner from the right, Reece Burke beat Malanga Sarr to a header and glanced home into the far corner off the inside of a post.
Luton had keeper Jed Steer stretchered off with an Achilles injury, on came Harry Isted but he had little to do before having to pick the ball out of the net from Saul Niguez’s inch perfect shot which as his first goal for Chelsea.
But Luton regained the lead when Chelsea were undone in the 40th minute. Carlos Mendes Gomes’ through ball released Harry Cornick and the Luton No7 raced away before slotting the ball calmly past Kepa. TV replays showed he timed his run perfectly.
Chelsea finally began to exert control and got level after 68 minutes. Loftus-Cheek’s ball over the top found Werner, the Germany forward controlled it brilliantly and then despatched a cool finish.
Werner then turned provider with an assist for the winner in the 79th minute as his cross was turned in by Lukaku to finally put Chelsea on course for victory.
