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4 hours ago
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There were times when Enzo Maresca seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. The Italian mooched around his technical area, bemoaning Chelsea’s frantic play and calling for calm. Panic had set in after another lead was frittered away, shoddy handling from the erratic Robert Sánchez gifting a mediocre Wolves an equaliser at the end of an average first half, and the winless run was in danger of ticking up to six.
However, while Sánchez remains an accident waiting to happen in goal, at least Chelsea had a second half to correct matters against one of the leakiest defences in the Premier League. The nerves faded after Marc Cucurella restored the advantage after an hour. Authority returned and although this was far from Chelsea’s most stylish win of the season, a final score of 3-1 was enough to capitalise on Newcastle’s setback against Bournemouth and see Maresca’s side take fourth place off Manchester City before they visit the champions on Saturday.
A sense of hysteria has gathered around Chelsea in recent weeks. Sustaining performances over 90 minutes has been a struggle, while injuries have bit in key positions, so much so that Maresca was forced into the pragmatism of recalling Trevoh Chalobah from his loan at Crystal Palace.
An outcast no more, the absence of Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana meant that Chalobah was thrown straight back into the starting lineup and was soon reminding Chelsea’s fans of his qualities, stepping across to deny Jørgen Strand Larsen a shot on goal after Matheus Cunha played the angular Wolves forward through on goal in the sixth minute.
Cunha had already threatened to tear past Reece James, available to make only his fifth start of the season at right-back. Did Wolves sense vulnerability? Chelsea were also without Enzo Fernández and Roméo Lavia in midfield. The lesser spotted Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, usually a man for the Europa Conference League, was in for his first league start since his £30m move from Leicester last summer.
For all the unpredictability, though, Chelsea still made their trademark fast start. Noni Madueke, scorer of a hat-trick against Wolves last August, was lively and direct against Rayan Aït-Nouri on the right. Cole Palmer, limping at times, a sore ankle hindering his movement, stirred and tested José Sá from long range. Matt Doherty almost bungled a clearance, heading a long ball over the onrushing Sá, only to redeem himself by clearing before Nicolas Jackson could force the ball into an empty net.
There was an edginess to Chelsea, the crowd howling when Jackson charged in from the left, took a heavy touch and lost out to Emmanuel Agbadou. Wolves, though, always give up chances.
Lacking authority in defence, they were behind when a corner was cleared as far as James, whose wayward shot was collected by the onside Tosin Adarabioyo and converted calmly by the centre-back.
Instead of calming down, though, Chelsea’s belief shrank as the half wore on. There was no fluency and Wolves imposed themselves before equalising on half-time with a goal that raises further doubts over how long Maresca can persist with Sánchez as his No 1.
It was so weak from Sánchez when Cunha delivered a corner from the left. He had no idea how to assert himself when Wolves crowded around him. There was merely a flap from Sánchez, the ball patted against Moisés Caicedo and dropped to Doherty, who poked in from a yard out.
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This was now a test of nerve for Chelsea, who will sign the 19-year-old centre-back Mamadou Sarr from Strasbourg this summer. Composure can be elusive when your goalkeeper has made the second highest number of errors leading to a goal this season. At the other end, though, there was comfort in seeing Palmer begin to pull the strings at the start of the second half.
The problem was that every perceptive pass from Palmer found a teammate seemingly gripped by anxiety. Chelsea felt rushed. Pedro Neto looked too eager to impress against his former club. Maresca chuntered when João Gomes dribbled beyond Dewsbury-Hall in midfield.
Then the fog lifted. Sudden aggression from Caicedo forced an error from André, allowing Chelsea to counter. Cucurella was involved at left-back and no Wolves defender spotted his charge into the area. It meant he was unmarked and able to finish from close range when Dewsbury-Hall flicked on Madueke’s inswinging cross.
Order restored, Chelsea brought Jadon Sancho on for Neto and soon had a third. Wolves, the division’s worst at defending set pieces, watched Palmer’s corner reach the far post. Chalobah headed it goalwards and the ball was going in before Madueke prodded it over the line in classic David Nugent style.
Job done, Chelsea eased off. Wolves, out of the bottom three on goal difference alone, were left to reflect on the defensive shortcomings keeping them in relegation trouble.
