The game settled into its expected pattern almost from the first second, with Chelsea dominating possession and Wolves sitting back and absorbing pressure.
And perhaps if we had managed to make some of our excellent movement and combinations count in the first 10-15 minutes, that would’ve turned into a less frustrating watch. Unfortunately, a couple excellent passes from Enzo were not matched by the quality of the respective finishes, and lucky bounces gave Wolves the reprieve on a few threatening corners, and then the game turned into the familiar grind of trying to break down massed ranks with increasingly slower and less creative endeavors.
A scoreless first half gave way to little more than the promise of the same in the second half, but thankfully Malo Gusto’s inverting-to-striker run was not tracked and he was found by Garnacho in the 51st minute to open the scoring. Yes, Malo Gusto!
Wolves responded excellently to going behind and started playing on the front foot, but Estêvão’s introduction paid immediate dividends, as he set up Joao Pedro to double our lead just past the hour-mark. Wolves again tried to respond, but subsequently left themselves open, which we took advantage of with pent-up glee: Enzo sending Garnacho on his way and he setting up Neto for a slam dunk to make it 3-0.
Marc Guiu could’ve made it four not long after his introduction, but would hit only the post. But it was party-mood by then for the Premier League’s top scorers, even if we would fail to add to our tally after that.
* Eight changes from midweek, with only Cucurella, JP, and Sanchez in goal keeping their places\\
* Gusto scores not only his first Chelsea goal, but his first goal in senior professional football (98 appearances total for Lyon and Chelsea); he did score for Lyon’s B team as well as France U21 (one each)
* A clean sheet!
* Chelsea move up to second(!) in the table, though one of either Manchester City or Liverpool will go above us tomorrow, depending on the outcome of their game. Six points behind leaders Arsenal after 11 played, 27 still to go.
* Next up: last international break of 2025, then Burnley away before a back-to-back home games against Barcelona and Arsenal. Momentous!
* KTBFFH
See More:
* [Chelsea FC: Premier League](/premier-league)