Premier League: Chelsea 3 Wolves 0

Goals from John Terry, Daniel Sturridge and Juan Mata handed Chelsea a much-needed victory against a lacklustre Wolves at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues were ahead through their captain after seven minutes and hit few roadblocks on their way to a 3-0 win against struggling Wolves, who have won just once since the two victories they recorded to start the Premier League season.

Newcastle’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United means that Chelsea can only hold fifth place on the table, but they did put some valuable breathing space between themselves and Liverpool and Arsenal, who both play on Sunday.

Defeats for Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers keep Wolves out of the relegation zone but they find themselves further detached from mid-table safety.

If the Blues were lacking confidence following their recent poor run of form, they did not show it in the early stages of this match. After Raul Meireles had just missed the target with the first shot of the game, Ramires did well to win the ball at midfield before his shot from 18 yards was palmed around the post by Wayne Hennessey.

Any lingering nerves were fully settled from the resulting corner. Terry rose to meet Mata’s corner and placed his header perfectly into the far corner.

When Mata nearly doubled the lead moments later, sending Branislav Ivanovic’s low cross flying over the crossbar, it looked as though it would be an afternoon of one-way traffic.

Wolves’ first chance of the match came when Stephen Ward reacted well to meet Matthew Jarvis’ cross from the left, but the Irishman could not control his header.

When Chelsea’s next opportunity came, they made it count as Mata, once again at the centre of their best play, sped past Ronald Zubar down the left and slid a low ball across goal that Sturridge turned home with ease to double the lead.

Chelsea found time for a superb third goal before the interval when Ashley Cole’s knee-high cross was met directly on the volley by Mata, who recorded a deserved goal of his own.

Chelsea continued to look threatening after half-time thanks to the athleticism of Ramires. Sturridge was the beneficiary of one such burst from the Brazilian and skipped past Christophe Berra into the Wolves box only to find Didier Drogba to be unusually slow off the mark when he poked the ball across goal, Roger Johnson making the clearance.

Sturridge and Mata, exploiting the huge amount of space between the Wolves midfield and defence, were having a field day but both found themselves denied by Hennessey in spectacular fashion with 20 minutes to play.

It did not much matter, though, as Chelsea secured a confidence-boosting three points against a limited-looking Wolves side.