25 August 2024
Wolves 2 Chelsea 6
Gary O’Neil’s side welcomed the Spartan army to Molineux for matchday two. Of course the visitors were Chelsea as they arrived with their first team squad of 300. Not sure how Maresca picks his sides now, whether it is a series of challenges like Squid Games or he runs it like a bingo hall. Either way, ‘lucky seven’ was not called and Pedro Neto started on the bench.
Chelsea made the perfect start as a corner was whipped in and Jackson found himself completely unmarked at the back post to head home for the visitors. It was terrible marking by Wolves but with Maresca’s side having so many first team players maybe the marking at set pieces had all got confused as to which potential four players each of Gary O’Neil’s side were tasked to pick up.
They should have replied immediately as they forced their own corner. As the ball came in, Mosquera headed it inches wide of the far post. He had done the hard work by rising to win it and once that was complete, he should have scored. At this point you wondered if this may be the highest scoring game of the season as the defending was severely lacking.
Ait-Nouri then went on a mazy run through the middle with The Blues players bouncing off him. He spotted Cunha unmarked in the box and the forward hit a crisp first-time shot into the far corner to equalise for the hosts. Molineux erupted as they managed to square the game up. Both sides were seeming to throw caution to the wind in search of goals.
Just before the break, the ball was flicked onto Palmer some twenty yards out. The England playmaker spotted Jose Sa off his line and lifted it over him into the back of the net. It was a sublime finish by the player nicknamed ‘Cold Palmer’. He does not seem to feel pressure and is almost able to pull off moments of magic that others wouldn’t even dare.
Maresca must have been planning his half-time words of wisdom when Wolves drifted a free kick into the box. It was headed back into the danger area and Strand Larsen stretched out a leg to divert it into the back of the net and get his first goal in front of the home fans. What a time to level things up with pretty much the last kick of the half.
Early into the second half and Madueke picked the ball up inside the box and cut onto his favoured left foot. He immediately got a shot away which deflected past the Wolves keeper and into the far corner. This was not a game that either sides’ defensive coaches would want listed on their CV whatsoever. It was like the Keystone Cops at the back.
Palmer ran through the middle and played it into the path of Madueke in an identical position to his earlier goal. This time he shifted it onto his right foot and caught Jose Sa off-guard as he beat him at the near post to double their lead. The away fans were bouncing as they were finally seeing their team start to bag the goals they had all hoped for against Man City.
Cole Palmer is so influential in this Chelsea team. He is an unselfish player who is just as happy to pick a pass to create a goal as score them himself. This was like déjà vu as he once again picked out Madueke who drilled home a right-footed shot into the near post. It completed his fourteen minute hat-trick and probably halved the value of Ait-Nouri on fantasy football.
Just when you felt that things could not get any worse for the hosts, former Wolves winger Neto got down the left flank and played a brilliant pass into the path of the onrushing Joao Felix. He drilled a first-time shot into the top corner from just inside the box to put the icing on the cake for the visitors. It was an emphatic victory for Enzo Maresca’s side.
This result will offer a glimmer of hope to Chelsea fans that the owners actually know what they are doing. From an attacking sense, The Blues were sublime at Molineux. Whether that was their brilliance or the ineptness of the hosts’ defence, only time will tell. Either way the three coaches carrying the first team players would have been a positive place to be on their way back to the capital.
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