Wolves 2-6 Chelsea: Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke combine for rare Premier League feat in Molineux thriller
Enzo Maresca tasted a first Premier League win as Chelsea manager after his side ran out 6-2 winners against Wolves at Molineux this afternoon.
Much had been written about the Blues following another summer of big spending and suffering an opening-day loss to champions Manchester City.
A first-leg success over Servette, with a place in this season’s UEFA Conference League on the line, was sandwiched between Chelsea’s first two Premier League fixtures. Despite being far from a perfect showing, one thing from last season remains constant: Cole Palmer’s undeniable influence.
Unquestionably the club’s most valuable player last term, Palmer was somewhat subdued in the loss to City last time out, but today’s showing reminded everyone why he is among the group of exciting players emerging as future Ballon d’Or contenders.
Palmer bagged a goal and created three more, each for Noni Madueke, who made himself public enemy number one after his now-deleted Instagram post, which appeared less than complimentary about Wolverhampton.
It all kicked off after 1 minute and 38 seconds into the game when Nicolas Jackson scored the fastest goal in this Premier League campaign. He then made the ill-advised decision to celebrate in front of the Wolves fans at the Sir Jack Hayward Stand, subsequently riling the attendees. Soon after Matheus Cunha equalised, there were more handbags at dawn after Cunha told Jackson to pipe down.
On the stroke of halftime, Wolves are undone by a quick goal kick. Chelsea booms the ball downfield. Yerson Mosquera is their only player back in defence. Jackson helps the ball on, and Cole Palmer has time to look up, judge the bounce, and then sweep a left-footed lob over the head of José Sá and in.
Cole Palmer's game by numbers vs. Wolves:
47 touches
6x possession won
5 shots
5 crosses
4 chances created
3 touches in opp. box
3 assists
1 goalHe has now been directly involved in 25 PL goals in 2024. 👏#WOLCHE pic.twitter.com/QAQZ2A3Rww
— Squawka Live (@Squawka_Live) August 25, 2024
Indeed, since the start of last season, Palmer has scored 14 goals that have given Chelsea the lead in Premier League games, the most of any player during this period.
However, it was immediately squandered when Jørgen Strand Larsen netted in the sixth minute of added time. Questions will be asked regarding their defending from a free kick. Toti headed it back across the six-yard line, and the big Norwegian marksman stretched out a foot to flick it into the back of the net.
After the break, Wolves supporters couldn’t believe their eyes. The most nightmarish scenario unfolded as Madueke netted a first senior hat-trick in 14 minutes. The defending from Gary O’Neil’s men left a lot to be desired. As touched upon, Palmer created all three, meaning there have now been five instances of a player assisting each goal for a teammate’s Premier League hat trick.
It previously happened in 1995 (Blackburn’s Mike Newell for Alan Shearer against Coventry plus Liverpool’s Stan Collymore for Robbie Fowler against Arsenal), 2003 (Arsenal’s Thierry Henry for Freddie Ljungberg against Sunderland), and 2020 (Tottenham’s Harry Kane for Son Heung-min against Southampton).
He's starting to like this place. #CFC | #WOLCHE pic.twitter.com/rVDurNiFMK
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 25, 2024
Mario Lemina then had a goal disallowed for offside, but the returning João Félix made his count with his effort created by former Wolves boy Pedro Neto. Curiously enough, each of Félix’s last three Premier League goals has come off the bench, with all three assisted by a fellow substitute (Neto today, Hakim Ziyech against Manchester United, and Raheem Sterling against Bournemouth).
The hosts somehow accumulated a higher expected goals tally (1.92) than Chelsea (1.56), leaving O’Neil with some work to do regarding his team’s finishing, but for Maresca — who became the first manager in Premier League history to see his team score six goals in his first away game in the competition — this is something he can build on.
