In Graham Potter’s first home Premier League game in charge, Chelsea easily defeated managerless Wolves 3-0 to move up to fourth place in the standings and continue the visitors’ dismal start to the year.
Diego Costa’s homecoming to Stamford Bridge was a hot topic, but the two-time Premier League champion for Chelsea was unable to trouble his old team, Wolves, who were put on the back foot for the majority of the game by youth coaches Steve Davis and James Collins.
After missing a number of opportunities, Chelsea finally capitalized on their first-half dominance when Kai Havertz (45+2) looped a header in. Christian Pulisic (54) then put the game beyond doubt by netting his first goal of the year after a deft exchange with Mason Mount.
Wolves have only scored three goals in nine league games this year, matching the number of goals Chelsea scored in this game until Armando Broja (90) came off the bench, evaded the offside trap, and scored the club’s third goal late in the game to maintain Potter’s perfect record.
As Chelsea camped in the visitors’ half, Gallagher, Havertz, and Mount all missed their respective targets, and Jose Sa blocked a shot from Jorginho. However, Pulisic was the wasteful player. Within a half-hour, the American saw three promising moments pass by before putting a dubious header over the crossbar. Though Sa was at full stretch, he could not have done much more with a bending shot that came shortly after.
Wolves felt they had held out until halftime, but Chelsea finally had their fair desserts on the stroke of halftime when Kepa only tested him with a routine save from a Joao Moutinho free-kick and saw a Matheus Nunes header fly over.
Much to Costa’s chagrin, Mount found some room out wide on the right and crossed for Havertz to evade Nelson Semedo
The visitors came out strong in the second half and substituted 20-year-old midfielder Joe Hodge for his senior debut. However, Pulisic’s goal after a quick one-two with Mount ended any hopes of a comeback.
