A Noni Madueke hat-trick helped Chelsea to a 6-2 win over Wolves at Molineux.
Nicolas Jackson, Cole Palmer and Joao Felix also netted for the Blues in a dominant win over the home side, despite the score being level at 2-2 at the break.
Here are five things we learned from the game…
Madueke repays Maresca’s faith
Madueke has been linked with a move away from Chelsea this summer, but after Thursday night’s Conference League win over Servette, Enzo Maresca made it clear that he wants to keep the winger at the club. And it’s clear to see why.
Targeted with loud boos by the home crowd every time he touched the ball because of a social media post about the city of Wolverhampton, the 22-year-old seemed to thrive in the hostile atmosphere and scored a brilliant second-half hat-trick to win the game for his team. Maresca also said Madueke must be more consistent in training and in his attitude, and this performance suggests he is doing just that. Chelsea would be mad to sell him.
More frustration for Mudryk
It might have been an excellent afternoon for one of Chelsea’s starting wingers, but the same cannot be said for the man on the other flank, Mykhailo Mudryk. Maresca also spoke openly about Mudryk after the game against Servette, admitting that it is like flipping a coin when Mudryk gets the ball as to whether he will make the right decision or not but insisting he and his staff would help him to “change”.
Somewhat surprisingly, Mudryk kept his place in the starting 11 for the visit to Wolves but after again showing some glimpses of the excitement he can bring, was taken off at half-time and replaced by Pedro Neto following an unconvincing display. Mudryk still requires lots of patience and there is no guarantee that he will become the player Chelsea paid all that money for, so it will be intriguing to see just how long Maresca is willing to wait.
Chelsea’s attacking talent is scary
Much has been made of the problems at Chelsea over the past couple of years and the issues of having such a large squad, but the group that has been assembled is absolutely stacked with attacking talent and Wolves certainly felt the full force of it. Jackson, Palmer and Madueke were a nightmare for the Wolves defence, before Pedro Neto and Joao Felix were introduced and combined for an excellent sixth goal for their side. The fact Christopher Nkunku only got around ten minutes of playing time off the bench shows just how much competition there is in Chelsea’s front line, and there are so many different options to hurt teams.
Defensive problems for Wolves
Gary O’Neil’s side went toe to toe with Chelsea in the first half, twice coming from behind to level the score, but were carved open time and time again in the second half which eventually saw them comfortably beaten. They completely switched off from a quick free-kick at the start of the second half which led to Madueke’s first goal and gave Cole Palmer way too much space to run at the defence and set the winger up for his next two for a hat-trick of assists and all for Madueke.
It was no surprise to see Rayan Ait-Nouri replaced after Chelsea had raced into a three-goal lead, with Madueke causing all sorts of problems for the left-back. Wolves’ vulnerability on the fast break will be a big concern for O’Neil, not just when it comes to his team’s defence but the midfield too.
Tensions spill over
It was a hostile atmosphere at Molineux, in particular towards Madueke who was targeted with boos and jeers every time he touched the ball following an Instagram story post before the game. Nicolas Jackson added fuel to the fire when he celebrated in front of the Wolves fans after opening the scoring early on and there were more confrontations between the players after Matheus Cunha had equalised, when he made his feelings quite clear to Jackson.
This was not the last time both sets of players clashed either in what was an ill-tempered afternoon in the midlands.
FEATURED IMAGE: JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP VIA ONE FOOTBALL
