Chelsea put down a serious marker on Sunday by thrashing Wolverhampton Wanderers 6-2 away from home.
Chelsea picked up their first three points of the new Premier League season by winning in style at Molineux Stadium, which will surely delight new head coach Enzo Maresca.
Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer scored first-half goals, but Wolves responded twice through Matheus Cunha and Jorgen Strand Larsen to make it 2-2 at the break. The visitors then turned the screw in the second period with goals from Noni Madueke (three) and Joao Felix to clinch a memorable away day victory.
Chelsea fans were calling for Madueke to start versus Wolves, and his sensational individual display proved why.
Chelsea player ratings vs Wolves
Robert Sanchez – 6
Sanchez doesn’t deserve any blame for the Wolves goals he conceded. His distribution with a long kick up field actually played a crucial role in Chelsea’s second goal.
Malo Gusto – 5
Gusto was the man asked to invert into midfield again from full-back, but there has to be question marks now about him in that role. As for his defending, Wolves definitely targeted his flank and he found it really difficult after being booked. He’s yet to hit his best form early into this new season.
Wesley Fofana – 5.5
Rested in midweek, Fofana was back and straight into the XI again this weekend. He’s quite obviously still getting up to fitness after over a year out and there’s a few areas to improve, mainly positionally.
Levi Colwill – 6
Colwill did make some decent defensive blocks for the Blues, albeit in a shaky performance from the backline. There was one in the first-half that he flicked onto the woodwork. His partnership with Fofana is definitely still a work in progress, though.
Marc Cucurella – 6
Cucurella was probably the most assured of the Chelsea defence on Sunday afternoon without too much of note. It may be worth Maresca looking at using him as the inverted full-back moving forward.
Moises Caicedo – 6
Caicedo was caught in possession a few times, including one moment that led to Cunha’s equalising goal to make it 1-1. In truth, Chelsea midfield was too easy to play against in the opening 45 minutes and Romeo Lavia was missed. Thankfully, Caicedo helped Chelsea gain some control and dominance in the second period.
Enzo Fernandez – 6
Like his midfield partner Caicedo, he struggled in transition in a chaotic first-half. But it was noticeable that Fernandez had much more joy and touches of the ball as the game went on.
Noni Madueke – 10
It was Madueke’s early shot that was tipped wide for a corner, which led to the opening goal. Afterwards, he spent the game receiving loud boos from the Molineux crowd whenever he touched the ball, but it seemed to act as real motivation. The right-winger scored a remarkable hat-trick in the second-half, with Palmer assisting them all. The obvious man of the match.
Cole Palmer – 9
Palmer will be frustrated he didn’t score early on when the ball got stuck under his feet in the box. Based on the high standards he’s set in the last year, you’d have expected more. He was later booked for decent, too. However, he did open his account for the campaign before the interval with a stunning lobbed effort. He then turned creator to assist all three of Madueke’s goals, which is a partnership we can’t wait to see more of.
Mykhailo Mudryk – 5
Mudryk was poor against Servette on Thursday night, so it was a surprise to see him in the starting line-up against Wolves. Unfortunately, he lasted just 45 minutes before he was hooked at half-time. It was another frustrating watch because he’s got speed and endeavour, but zero end product right now.
Nicolas Jackson – 9
Jackson scored his first goal of the season, which stunned the hosts because it came in the second minute. He then assisted Palmer’s goal with a clever pass. On top of his goal involvements, he worked tirelessly and got really stuck into the battle against Wolves. The way he holds the ball up and links play with clever flicks shows his confidence. A really superb No.9 performance.
Substitutions
Pedro Neto – 7
Neto entered the action at the break against his former club, slotting in as the left-winger to replace Mudryk. He looked a threat and assisted the final goal with a pulled back pass to his Portuguese colleague.
Joao Felix – 7
Felix came on for his second Chelsea debut, replacing Jackson midway through the second-half. He didn’t have too much time to make his impact, but he did exactly that with a thunderous first-time finish after the Neto pass.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – 6
Dewsbury-Hall came on for the final 15 minutes and was involved in Chelsea’s sixth goal. He’s definitely an important squad player.
Renato Veiga + Christopher Nkunku – N/A
They both came on for less than 10 minutes as Maresca made the most of his bench.
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