Chelsea 3 Luton 0: Raheem Sterling lights up Stamford Bridge as Blues pick up first win under Pochettino

MAURICIO POCHETTINO can at last celebrate his first win as Chelsea manager thanks to one of his longest serving troopers.

Yet it says so much about the smash and grab transfer policy at this club that we are talking about Raheem Sterling who has been a loyal and dedicated servant at Stamford Bridge for barely a year.

With seven players in Chelsea's starting line up who have arrived since January, amazingly Sterling can be considered one of the old guard even though he only joined in July last year.

The England winger was Todd Boehly’s first signing when the American spearheaded a £4 billion takeover which has since seen a further £956 million spent on new players.

And while Sterling’s two goals and matchwinning performance is something for Boehly and Pochettino to cheer, the fact there were so many unfamiliar faces in blue last night underlines why they still require a lot of polish before they can shine.

Sterling cost £47m from Manchester City last summer - just £5m short of the value of the entire Luton Town squad.

Yet had the ‘grand old man’ of Poch’s baby squad not grabbed this game by the scruff of the neck, the picture could still be looking pretty bleak in these parts.

He scored after 17 minutes and 68 minutes. Yet in between it was still much the same old uncertainties as Chelsea’s young squad struggle to find their feet.

A sobering defeat at West Ham last weekend followed a draw at home to Liverpool and it should have triggered a backlash that saw Luton swamped by half time.

Early on it was like that. Chelsea went at it with their tails up. On seven minutes Sterling got his first sniff of blood by smashing a volley straight at Thomas Kaminski and the power of the shot almost carried the keeper over the line with its ferocity.

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Ten minutes later Sterling’s drive paid off with a classy solo goal.

Picking up the ball on the right flank, he bobbed and weaved past half-hearted shadow tackles from Town’s record signing Ryan Giles, former Blues midfielder Ross Barkley and Amari’i Bell before slotting a shot into the opposite corner.

It should have opened a floodgate of goals and glorious football but this new-look team is still quite unsure of itself - even against a team with a combined value of £52m.

Luton were second best but then they are bound to be.

Not only does their ground hold a quarter of Chelsea’s, what little spending they could afford in comparison to their well-heeled hosts had to be done last minute after securing promotion via the Championship Play-Off final.

But any home fan who bought a ticket rubbing their hands together at the prospect of watching their emerging bunch of wannabe superstars enjoy a rout will have left disappointed.

Luton failed to mount a shot on target in the first half but then Chelsea managed only two and they both came from Sterling’s trusty boot.

The other attempt was a rising effort from £106m Enzo Fernandez which grazed the crossbar but should have been on target.

The frustration everyone felt was summed up at half time when 1980s striking legend Kerry Dixon was invited pitchside to give the party line on progress under Pochettino.

The 62-year-old pulled no punches as he stroked his chin then told the entire stadium: “We’re a work in progress and I’d like to see a bit more excitement.” And that from someone who bleeds blue.

And Chelsea were bleedin’ awful after the break until Sterling stepped up again.

Captain for the night Ben Chilwell had his head in his hands after trying to find Sterling with a limp pass when clean through in the box.

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