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Reuters
Reuters
Sport

Abraham treble takes Chelsea into FA Cup fifth round

Soccer Football - FA Cup - Fourth Round - Chelsea v Luton Town - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - January 24, 2021 Luton Town's Jordan Clark concedes a penalty against Chelsea's Timo Werner Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley

Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham grabbed a hat-trick in a 3-1 win over second-tier Luton Town on Sunday to book the Premier League side's place in the FA Cup fifth round.

Frank Lampard's side will play another Championship club in the next round when they make the trip to Barnsley, who beat Norwich City 1-0 on Saturday.

Abraham's treble was his second in a Chelsea shirt and the 23-year-old became the first Englishman since Lampard in 2007 to net one for the club in the competition.

Soccer Football - FA Cup - Fourth Round - Chelsea v Luton Town - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - January 24, 2021 Luton Town's Kieran Dewsbury-Hall in action with Chelsea's Olivier Giroud Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley

"It's great to score a hat-trick and win so comfortably. Luton are a good side," England forward Abraham, who now has 11 goals this season, told the BBC.

"It's always nice to get a win, hopefully we can build off that form now... hopefully we can build on the confidence from here."

Chelsea took the lead in the 11th minute when a quick throw-in caught Luton's defence napping, allowing Timo Werner to make a run down the right channel and cut the ball back for Abraham who fired a low shot past goalkeeper Simon Sluga.

Soccer Football - FA Cup - Fourth Round - Chelsea v Luton Town - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - January 24, 2021 Chelsea's Billy Gilmour in action with Kurt Zouma Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley

Abraham doubled the lead six minutes later when he flicked a header from a Reece James cross past Sluga, whose indecisiveness after coming off the line saw him stranded in no-man's land as the ball sailed over his head into the net.

Luton pulled one back on the half-hour mark when Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga failed to keep out Jordan Clark's low effort which squeezed between his hand and leg into the net.

But Chelsea began to dominate in the second half and the introduction of Callum Hudson-Odoi had an instant impact as his one-two with Billy Gilmour allowed him to fire the ball into the six-yard box for Abraham to get his third with a simple tap-in.

Werner had the chance to make it 4-1 with a penalty after he was fouled by Clark but the German, who has scored one goal in his last 15 appearances, had his shot well saved by Sluga.

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Ken Ferris)

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