Noni Madueke scored a brilliant second-half hat-trick as Enzo Maresca claimed his first Premier League win as Chelsea head coach in emphatic fashion, with the Blues dispatching Wolverhampton Wanderers 6-2 at Molineux.
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It was all square at the break, with Matheus Cunha and Jorgen Strand Larsen cancelling out Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer’s goals in a thrilling first half.
Madueke then netted a 14-minute hat-trick from a trio of Palmer assists before new signing Joao Felix scored to make it six and add further gloss for the visitors.
Cunha and Mario Lemina had a goal each ruled out for the hosts, but Gary O’Neil’s team were cut open at the back and ultimately, soundly beaten.
Chelsea’s victory takes them into the top half as one of seven teams on three points, while Wolves are 19th after two defeats.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
16 | +21 | 39 |
| 2 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
17 | +18 | 35 |
| 3 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
17 | +18 | 33 |
| 4 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
17 | +4 | 31 |
| 5 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
17 | +6 | 28 |
| 6 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
17 | 0 | 28 |
| 7 |
Man City
MCI
|
17 | +4 | 27 |
| 8 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
17 | +6 | 26 |
| 9 |
Fulham
FUL
|
17 | +2 | 25 |
| 10 |
Brighton
BHA
|
17 | +1 | 25 |
How the match unfolded
Chelsea made a blistering start, with Madueke forcing a save out of Jose Sa before Jackson nodded them in front from the resulting corner.
Jackson's goal is the fastest in the Premier League so far this season, timed at 98 seconds and is Chelsea's earliest Premier League goal since September 2017 against Stoke City, when Alvaro Morata struck after just 82 seconds.
Wolves almost hit back when Yerson Mosquera struck a post before Cunha was denied by the assistant referee’s flag, with VAR confirming Strand Larsen had strayed offside.
Cunha would not be denied again, though, as the hosts pounced on a loose pass in midfield, with the Brazilian bending a first-time finish past Robert Sanchez.
Palmer restored Chelsea’s lead in the 44th minute with a wonderful lob, but Strand Larsen swiftly levelled, stretching to poke in his first Premier League goal in the final action of the first half.
But it was Madueke who stole the show after the break, netting his hat-trick with three similar, low strikes from the right-hand side of the box, with a Wolves response through Lemina ruled out for offside.
And with 10 minutes left, Joao Felix announced his return to Chelsea in some style, meeting Pedro Neto’s cross to rifle a first-time effort into the top corner.
Wolves crumble in second half
Wolves did the double over Chelsea last season, stunning them with two impressive wins, including a comeback victory in their most recent before today.
And it looked like they might be on to recreate that result in this fiery encounter, led by Cunha, who scored a hat-trick in last season’s clash at Stamford Bridge.
He could have easily had three goals again – slicing an effort wide on the stretch and was unlucky that Strand Larsen had strayed marginally offside for his disallowed strike.
However, all of Wolves’ bright attacking play fizzled out in the second half, with the hosts struggling to show the same threat when Chelsea fixed their own defensive problems.
Gary O’Neil’s side have now lost their last five matches in the Premier League. Although they have their first goals of the season, he still has some problems to solve if they want to get their first win before the international break, with a trip to Nottingham Forest next up.
Madueke and Maresca make their mark
Maresca earned his first win in charge of Chelsea on Thursday in a UEFA Conference League qualifier and will be happy they built on that for his first Premier League victory.
Madueke scored in that match, with Maresca asking the youngster to deliver consistent performances, as the Italian laid out his plans to keep hold of the winger in the last week of the window.
After angering Wolves fans with a now-deleted comment made on social media, Madueke was already an unpopular figure at Molineux before playing a starring role.
He set the tone from the start, winning the corner that led to Jackson’s early goal.
And his inspired performance was justly rewarded, as he boosted his chances of cementing a regular starting place with three finely taken goals, showing his pace and finishing prowess, before beating Sa from tight angles.
Maresca will feel much more confident after such an impressive attacking performance from his side, though he may still have problems to solve at the back.
Club reports
Wolves report | Chelsea report
What the managers said:
Gary O'Neil: "Some catastrophic errors, I suppose the three goals after half-time to take it from 2-2 to 5-2 are crazy."
Enzo Maresca: “I can judge Noni’s performance, which was fantastic.
“Not only second half, even first half the first 10 or 15 minutes he was always one-v-one creating something.
“Since day one I said he’s the kind of winger I really like. He is working very good with us, but the best thing today from Noni was not the hat-trick, it was the way he defended for 90 minutes the counter-attacks.”
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Key facts
Madueke scored his first senior hat-trick, with all three goals assisted by Palmer – it is just the fifth time a player has assisted a team-mate three or more times in the same Premier League match, after Mike Newell for Alan Shearer and Stan Collymore for Robbie Fowler in 1995, Thierry Henry for Freddie Ljungberg in 2003 and Harry Kane for Son Heung-min in 2020 (4).
Maresca became the first manager in Premier League history to see his team score six goals in his first away match in the competition. Chelsea scored six goals in an away league fixture for the first time since April 2022 against Southampton (6-0).
Matheus Cunha has scored in back-to-back Premier League appearances against Chelsea, having also netted a hat-trick at Stamford Bridge in February. Only Raul Jimenez (5 goals vs both Everton and Southampton) has scored more goals in the competition against a single opponent for Wolves than Cunha’s four against Chelsea.
Each of Joao Felix’s last three Premier League goals have come off the bench, with all three assisted by a fellow substitute (Pedro Neto today, Hakim Ziyech against Man Utd and Raheem Sterling against Bournemouth).