Chelsea rose to second place in the Premier League table after three second-half goals saw them secure a comfortable 3-0 win over a managerless Wolves at Stamford Bridge.
This was a routine victory over a team at the bottom of the league who had failed to register a single shot on target, and I think it took a long time for the hosts to unlearn themselves and fire.
When they finally did, the goals flowed freely. Malo Giusto scored his first career goal early in the second half, Joao Pedro scored his second goal in two league games, and Pedro Neto – arguably Chelsea’s best player of the season so far – scored the third from Alejandro Garnacho’s impressive cross.
Enzo Maresca has faced criticism for the team’s rotation policy after making 85 changes in total this season, and he continued the upward trend here by making a further eight changes following the draw with Qarabag – although he can point to just one change from the 1-0 win over Tottenham last weekend.
It was to bring in Liam Delap for his first home appearance since a hamstring injury that sidelined him for almost two months, but the player signed for £30m to be the reliable striker Chelsea lacked last season barely touched him in the first half.
That’s not to say Chelsea have left Sam Johnstone idle. The Wolves goalkeeper made a series of saves in the opening 20 minutes, denying Jarnacho with a one-on-one pass and then denying Enzo Fernandes twice, first after the midfielder had set up Mark Cucurella and then again with an athletic pass to clear the ball over the goal.
Pedro then pulled a shot wide from a decent position on the edge of the box as the lumbering half slowed to a crawl.
Chelsea went into half-time having enjoyed almost 75% possession and faced no shots on target for Wolves, but this was a dull and uninspiring first half, and the strong statistics clearly made little impact on the frustrated home fans who booed their team.
Finally, the goal was reached and it was a gift to the wolves. Garnacho took possession of the left edge of the penalty area and lifted it to the back post where Giusto was allowed to roam freely in all the space he needed to choose a spot and nod the ball down and past Johnstone.
Jan Reckner Bellegarde finally got the visitors’ first effort on target in the 60th minute, a wild shot that deflected high over Robert Sanchez’s crossbar, but at least it constituted some small ambition at the end from Wolves.
It was in vain, and Chelsea quickly finished the game off. Estêvão was sent in to the usual roar of anticipation from fans who greet his every introduction, and with his debut, he sent in a stunning cross which Pedro headed home.
Neto scored the third goal in the 72nd minute after a strong pass from Jarnacho from the left side, and at that time Chelsea was taking off.
