Jamie Gittens wheels away after scoring an outrageous fourth goal for Chelsea at Wolves.
Jamie Gittens wheels away after scoring an outrageous fourth goal for Chelsea at Wolves.
Liam Delap, returning as a substitute after two months out with a hamstring injury, was sent off for two yellow cards inside seven late minutes as Chelsea, 3-0 up at half-time, managed to turn this into a topsy-turvy tie that may have earned them a place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals but has cost them their No 9 for Saturday’s derby away to Tottenham.
Wolves, despite extending their poor start to the season, actually ended up in credit as they battled fiercely to regain some pride, getting cheered off by supporters who had booed them off after Sunday’s defeat by Burnley.
Two goals from David Møller Wolfe, after Tolu Arokodare had brought the score back to 3-1, cheered up their supporters but superb goals from Andrey Santos, Tyrique George, Estêvão and Jamie Gittens always suggested Chelsea had too much class. Delap, introduced on the hour mark, was booked for pushing Yerson Mosquera, and then jumping into Emmanuel Agbadou. as Wolves turned this into a fightThe two meet again at Stamford Bridge a week on Saturday. That should be fun.
With a quarter-final place at stake, only one player survived from the two teams’ last Premier League outings; quite what Josh Acheampong had done wrong is a moot point.
Both teams had also conceded last-minute winners at the weekend as well but that’s enough of the similarities. Whereas Chelsea’s shock home defeat by Sunderland ended a run of four straight victories, Wolves’ latest capitulation, against Burnley, continued a wretched run that now looks set to run beyond Halloween. For Wolves’ supporters, it’s been a nightmare all season so far.
The bile that spilled out when Vitor Pereira went over to supporters in the South Bank after Burnley’s 95th-minute winner has left Wolves wondering where to turn. So when they went two early goals behind again, there was a combination of anger – chanting for the owners to go and some suggesting their manager would be sacked in the morning, as per.
Chelsea’s Liam Delap (second from right) is sent off by the referee Jarred Gillett
Chelsea’s Liam Delap (second from right) is sent off by the referee Jarred Gillett. Photograph: Bradley Collyer/PA
Gittens and George, Chelsea’s England Under-21 front players, were sharp and penetrative from the off. When Tolu Arokodare, deputising for Jørgen Strand Larsen, misplaced his layoff, Gittens was onto the ball in a flash, skipping inside his man before squaring for Andrey Santos to shoot home from the edge of the area.
Gittens was again the provider as, receiving Facundo Buonanotte’s pass out wide, this time on the left, he skinned Matt Doherty and crossed for George, who scored in the rather more challenging third-round win at Lincoln, to convert from close range. Doherty, injured, possibly with twisted blood, was immediately substituted.
Wolves actually threatened a comeback, with some good moves culminating in Hwang Hee-chang volleying over after Arokodare headed down Fer López’s free-kick, before they conceded again shortly before half-time. It was López who, receiving José Sá’s pass just outside his own area, was the latest fall-guy as he was dispossessed by Santos, offering Estêvão the opportunity to produce an audacious chip over the goalkeeper. It was all over as a contest, surely. ‘You’re going to cry in a minute,’ sang the Chelsea fans to their Wolves counterparts who had descended into near silence.
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Within three minutes of the restart, however, with substitutes Marshall Munetsi and Ladislav Krejci adding muscularity to the midfield, they were able to chant self-deprecatingly ‘We’ve scored a goal’.
Estêvão chips the ball over the Wolves goalkeeper José Sá to score Chelsea’s third goal.
Estêvão chips the ball over the Wolves goalkeeper José Sá to score Chelsea’s third goal.
Buonanotte was dispossessed in midfield and Hwang played in Arokodare, whose first touch opened up a clear view of the goal and he neatly slotted in his second goal in this competition. When Yerson Mosquera headed narrowly wide and the Wolves crowd sniffed hope, Chelsea were able to bring on a European Championship winner in Marc Cucurella; a World Cup winner in Enzo Fernández; and Liam Delap, who at least helped them win the Club World Cup. That should have been enough to see off Wolves’ brief flurry of optimism.
However, with 15 minutes remaining, Wolfe gave Wolves hope. From Mosquera’s long throw, there were flick-ons from Munetsi, Krejci and Agbadou before Møller Wolfe came in at the far post to angle home his first goal for the club. His second followed from a similar position as Wolves threw the kitchen sink at saving their pride, but only after Gittens had swerved a brilliant shot in off a post to make it 4-2.