Chelsea’s annual Remembrance Service fixture was marked with a 3-0 win over the Premier League’s bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers, with goals being scored by Malo Gusto, Joao Pedro and Pedro Neto.
The first half of the game was stale with frustration growing amongst the Chelsea faithful in the stands. Enzo Fernández and Alejandro Garnacho forced Wolves keeper Sam Johnstone into a string of good saves to deny the blues and there was a point where you thought it just wasn’t going to be Chelsea’s day.
It was a fairly controlling first half from Chelsea possession wise, but every now and then Wolves would create a half chance on the break in the form of either Jorgen Strand Larsen or Hwang Hee-Chan. Rob Sanchez wasn’t tested once in the first half, but did need to be wary of a few high presses from Wolves when he had the ball, especially from Strand Larsen.
On the 37th minute mark, it looked like Malo Gusto’s night was over when he suffered a nasty knock in the middle of the park, but shortly after Gusto returned to the field of the play. After a string of non-serious injuries, Andrew Kitchen added on five additional minutes at the end of a first half at a cold Stamford Bridge which ended 0-0.
The second half was kicked off by Wolves midfielder André being booked for a nasty challenge in the middle of the park which resulted in him being visibly unhappy with Kitchen, who was firm with his decision. This was a key moment in the game as André is always a player to stick a challenge in, so he was walking a tightrope which allowed Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez a lot more space and time.
Two minutes later, Malo Gusto opened the scoring for Chelsea to make it 1-0 with a header from close range from a brilliant cross from Alejandro Garnacho. Remarkably, this was Gusto’s first goal in Chelsea colours and only his second ever in his senior career. From there, Chelsea continued to create good chances.
Liam Delap’s last involvement in his first home game since returning from injury was a miss from five yards, which initially looked as if it was heading for the back of the net, as it should’ve done. He was then taken off for wonderkid Estêvão Willian, and it took Estêvão just one minute to make an impact. The youngster ran at the Wolves defence and delivered a low driven cross for fellow Brazilian Joao Pedro to smash in Chelsea’s second. Chelsea weren’t done there, and nor was player of the match Alejandro Garnacho, who nine minutes later delivered another super ball in, this time to Pedro Neto who ruined any lasting hopes his former club may have had to get back into this game.
The game faded away from Wolves, who need to be better in the upcoming weeks if they want to have any chance of staying in this league. In stark contrast, Chelsea were excellent in the second half and deserved the 3-0 win and the jump to second place in the league.
Next up for The Blues is Burnley away from home, which will be a test given their nature of being tough to beat at their home Turf Moor.
