Chelsea blew Wolves away with a 3-0 victory to continue their winning run in the league under Liam Rosenior.
After a slow start, some pretty horrific defending from the home team made life so easy for Chelsea.
The Blues were handed their first goal when Matt Doherty nibbled at the feet of Joao Pedro, even as the striker moved away from goal. It was a crazy moment to foul, and the Brazilian eagerly took the chance to down. The ref had no choice but to give it. Cole Palmer dispatched it with his customary ease.
It was the same situation soon after, when JP was shunted in the back as he burst into the box. Again, there was little direct threat of a goal, but it was a foul, and once again Palmer stepped up to score.
The third goal was from open play, with Chelsea now really confident and strutting their stuff. Enzo Fernandez played in Marc Cucurella’s overlapping run, and the full back played a nice cut back to Palmer, who was on hand to [slam the ball in to the roof of the net](https://chelsea.news/2026/02/palmer-roofed-finish-25-minute-hattrick/). Liam Rosenior’s team walked off at half time delighted, as boos rang out for the ref and the Wolves performance.
The second half saw the home team come into it more – they scored from a scrappy set piece early in the second period to get the crowd up again, and battled to keep in the game. Chelsea weren’t up to much after the break, and had several big chances to put the ball away which they missed, but the important thing was 3 points won.
**MOTM – Cole Palmer**
Analysis
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Cole Palmer celebrates his hat trick. (Photo by Ben Roberts Photo/Getty Images)
We suspected Liam Rosenior would push Palmer to the right wing to get both Andrey Santos and Moises Caicedo into the team as a double pivot, as well as Enzo Fernandez as a number ten where he can shine.
We can probably expect this pattern to continue in game where all those players are fit. Santos went off with what looked like a knock, so perhaps we will see Enzo back deeper and Palmer as a ten as soon as Tuesday night. That also creates space for Estevao to come into the team. But long term, this is the setup we think Rosenior will prefer.
Teams
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**Wolves**
Jose Sa
Matt Doherty
Yerson Mosquera
Santiago Bueno
Hugo Bueno
da Silva Joao Gomes
Angel Gomes
Hee-Chan Hwang
Adam Armstrong
Mateus Mane
Toluwalase Arokodare
_Substitutes_
Sam Johnstone
David Wolfe
Cardoso Pedro Lima (s 90′)
Rodrigo Gomes (s 46′)
Jean Ricner Bellegarde (s 80′)
Ladislav Krejci (s 43′)
Jackson Tchatchoua
Luke Rawlings
Tom Edozie
**Chelsea**
Robert Sanchez
Malo Gusto
Wesley Fofana
Trevoh Chalobah
Marc Cucurella
Andrey Santos
Moises Caicedo
Pedro Neto
Cole Palmer
Enzo Fernandez
Joao Pedro
_Substitutes_
Teddy Sharman-Lowe
Benoit Badiashile
Liam Delap (s 75′)
Mamadou Sarr
Jorrel Hato (s 84′)
Josh Acheampong (s 75′)
Marc Guiu
Estevao
Alejandro Garnacho (s 61′)
Stats
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Quote of the game
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“Everyone loves to chat rubbish, don’t they? I don’t pay too much attention to it.” – Cole Palmer on his celebration.