Noni Madueke did his best to make himself public enemy No.1 in Wolverhampton again.
Back in August, Madueke made a public apology after making disparaging remarks on social media about the city before scoring a hat trick when Chelsea won at Molineux. This time, England winger Madueke was on target again as Chelsea got themselves back on track with their first win in six Premier League games.
Madueke even scored his close-range header right in front of the away end to rub salt in their wounds. It silenced the travelling fans at Stamford Bridge to condemn Wolves to another defeat and plunge them further into trouble.
Chelsea were hardly at their best as Enzo Maresca’s patched-up side have gone off the boil and yet they still had enough in the tank to see off struggling Wolves.
The visitors could not even take full advantage of a horrible gaffe by Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez as once again he was exposed as a weakness in their line-up.
But Chelsea also look like a team who, despite their vast squad and outlay, are beginning to get some weary legs amid a growing injury list after such a good first half of the season.
A month ago, Chelsea looked to be on course to be Liverpool’s closest challengers for the title but they have fallen away badly. Cole Palmer did not look fully fit, Moises Caicedo clearly hurt himself and Enzo Fernandez is out for a few weeks in their latest setback. The goals have dried up for Nicolas Jackson and it shows because they are not purring like they were before Christmas.
Marc Cucurella even appeared to make that point with his goal celebration, pointing to his head to suggest they needed more focus when the Spain left back restored Chelsea’s lead in the second half.
Chelsea boss Maresca of course told us all along that it was too early for them to be title contenders and they do look a work in progress.
They have recalled Trevoh Chalobah from his loan spell at Crystal Palace and he went straight into the team and he impressed which is good news for Thomas Tuchel as the England boss liked him when he was in charge at Stamford Bridge. There was also a first Premier League start for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – the summer £35m signing from Leicester – and a first Premier League goal for Chelsea from Tosin Adarabioyo.
It was a dream start for Chelsea as centre half Tosin’s opener put them ahead after 25 minutes when a VAR check overruled an offside flag. Reece James’s shot went through a crowd, Tosin was left unmarked and he turned and fired in.
Wolves picked up under new boss Vitor Pereira but results have fallen away again in recent weeks, although they hauled themselves live in first half injury time. Matheus Cunha put over a corner, Sanchez made a terrible mess of things and dropped the ball which allowed Matt Doherty to fire in from close range.
The hope did not last too long into the second half for Wolves. Chelsea were back in front on the hour mark.
Madueke was involved as his cross was nodded on by Dewsbury-Hall and Cucurella sneaked in on the blind side before making a smart finish. Five minutes later, Palmer’s free kick found Chalobah at the back post and he headed back across goal which allowed Madueke to stoop in and head the ball across the line from point blank range.
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