Wolves 2-6 Chelsea: Madueke hat-trick earns Maresca first league win

Noni Madueke plundered a second-half hat-trick as Enzo Maresca claimed his first Premier League win as Chelsea boss in emphatic fashion, with the Blues dispatching Wolves 6-2.

It was all square at the break, with Matheus Cunha and Jorgen Strand Larsen cancelling out Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer’s goals in a thrilling first half at Molineux.

Madueke put the game beyond Wolves’ reach, though, netting a 14-minute hat-trick from a trio of Palmer assists before new signing Joao Felix added further gloss for the visitors.

Cunha and Mario Lemina had a goal each ruled out for the hosts, but Gary O’Neil’s team were cut open at the back and ultimately soundly beaten.

Chelsea’s victory takes them into the top half as one of seven teams on three points, while Wolves are 19th after two defeats.

That’ll do. #CFC | #WOLCHE pic.twitter.com/Ac2zcXdRzx

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 25, 2024

Data Debrief: Blues find their groove

Maresca got his first Premier League win in style, and he is the first manager in the competition’s history to see his team score six goals in his first away game.

Madueke, who helped to seal Maresca’s first win on Thursday, has now scored more goals in Wolverhampton (three) than he has at Stamford Bridge (two in 18 games).

It is also just the fifth time that a player has assisted a team-mate’s hat-trick in the Premier League, with Palmer finishing the day with three assists and one goal.

As for Wolves, they accumulated a higher expected goals tally (1.92) than Chelsea (1.56), but could not prevent themselves from being on the wrong end of a thrashing.