Chelsea picked up their first win of the Premier League season with a scintillating second-half demolition of Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. A hat-trick from Noni Madueke, alongside goals from Cole Palmer, Nicholas Jackson and João Félix (on his second debut for the Blues) secured Enzo Maresca’s first win the league, in emphatic fashion.
Noni Lights the Flame
Not many would have predicted such an exciting game before kick-off, however the flames were lit in the early hours after Madueke’s Instagram post was leaked, where he said that ‘everything about this place was s**t’, referring to the location of where the game would take place.
Unsurprisingly, this didn’t go down with the Wolves faithful and Madueke was subjected to boos from kick off and less than complimentary chanting. However, this proved to merely spur the 22-year-old on as he scored a wonderful second half hat-trick, all assisted by the recent PFA Young Player of the Year, Cole Palmer.
A Game of Two Halves
Before Madueke’s heroics however, the game was finally poised as the two teams went in at half time. Jackson had given Chelsea a very early lead, heading home from a corner after only two minutes to give the Blues a perfect start. This was the precursor to a frantic first half, and Wolves struck back as Matheus Cunha capitalised on some weak Chelsea defending to finish in the 27th minute.
The game continued at an exhilarating pace with both teams having good chances. However, it was Chelsea’s star man Palmer who broke the deadlock, lobbing home brilliantly from 25 yards out to give the Blues a lead minutes before half time. But Chelsea were once again pushed back as Wolves grabbed an equaliser deep into first half stoppage time, as Jørgen Strand Larsen grabbed his first goal for The Wanderers, capitalising on some very shaky defending as the two teams went into the break all square.
A similar second half could have been expected following such an end to end first period – but Madueke had different ideas. Three goals scored in quick succession, all assisted by the brilliant Palmer, put the game to bed before Wolves had time to blink. The boy from Barnet, who has shown short bursts of brilliant in the past, finally put in a performance that shows he might go on to be a key and consistent performer for Chelsea this season.
At 5-2, the game was as good as finished and Maresca rang the changes to keep the squad fresh. Two of those changes would go on to combine to score Chelsea’s sixth, as former Wolves favourite Pedro Neto burst down the left wing to pull back for Félix to hammer home from just inside the box to score on his second Chelsea debut, and cap off a wonderful away day for the Blues.
What’s Next for Chelsea?
Maresca will want to keep the positive momentum going following back-to-back wins, and Chelsea will be favourites going into their second leg Europa Conference League play-off against Servette on Thursday. From there, they welcome Crystal Palace to Stamford Bridge for their next Premier League tie, where Chelsea will be looking for consecutive league wins as the Premier League gets into full swing.
