EFL Cup REVIEW 27 Aug 2026: Welbeck scores on his Chelsea debut, and Luton's long unbeaten run ends

Chelsea beat Luton Town 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, and for fifty minutes it was harder work than the team sheet suggested. Danny Welbeck settled it on his Chelsea debut, heading in a cross from Malo Gusto, and the second went down as an own goal by Hakeem Odoffin on 79 minutes after a low drive from Estevao Willian struck him on its way in. Xabi Alonso had handed full debuts to Mike Penders and Valentin Barco alongside Welbeck while still naming Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and captain Reece James, and he was candid about how the first half had gone: "We needed to play with patience. Credit to Luton, they defended with heart. They were solid." It was his first competitive home win as Chelsea manager.

For Luton the defeat ended a sixteen-match unbeaten run in all competitions, and Jack Wilshere would not have it read as a failure. "Proud is the word that comes to mind the most," he said. "We saw things in the team tonight that we don't normally have to do. For as long as Chelsea made us do it, I loved it." This is the competition that owes Luton the most anyway. It gave them the afternoon the club is still known for, the 1988 final in which Brian Stein scored in the last minute to beat Arsenal 3-2, after Nigel Winterburn had missed a penalty. Chelsea, winners of this cup in 1965, 1998, 2005, 2007 and 2015, go on to face Leeds United in the third round.

Fulham beat AFC Wimbledon 3-0, and the tie was effectively over in five first-half minutes. Emile Smith Rowe headed in from Ryan Sessegnon on 37 minutes and Rodrigo Muniz headed the second from Kenny Tete on 42, with Gonzalo Garcia adding the third at the end. Alvaro Arbeloa, in only his second match in charge, made ten changes from the side beaten by Chelsea and kept only Oscar Bobb: "You need the energy and different qualities. They need to feel they are important." Shea Charles made his Fulham debut in midfield, and the academy pair Macaulay Zepa and Chibby Nwoko came on in the second half. Ryan Sessegnon started on the left for Fulham; his twin brother Steven, once of the same academy, started in defence for Wimbledon.

Nathan Bishop made five saves for Wimbledon, which is the kind of statistic that tells you what sort of evening it was, and Johnnie Jackson took the night for what it offered: "A good night for the club because we get to test ourselves against the very best." Wimbledon have twice reached the third round of this competition, in 2021/22 and 2024/25, and that is as far as the club has been. It is where Fulham are now bound, to West Ham United, still looking for the first major national trophy in a history that stretches back through an FA Cup final in 1975 and a Europa League final in 2010 without ever quite landing one.