
Chelsea beat Wolves 3-1 at Stamford Bridge ended their five game winless streak in the Premier League.
The home team struck first in the 24th minute through Tosin Adarabioyo, who has been more than amongst the goals lately with three goals in his last three games. An effort from Reece James deflected into Adarabioyo, who then dispatched the ball into the back of the net like a seasoned striker.
It was the same old story for Chelsea as of late, an almost immediate drop off in intensity after the first goal allowed Wolves to get back into the game. Robert Sanchez’s failure to catch the ball from a Wolves corner dropped to Matt Doherty who poked it away to equalise for the opposition.
Another defender came to the rescue for the Blues in the 60th minute. On the hour mark, a ball swung into the Wolves box by Noni Madueke was flicked on by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall towards Cucurella. The Spaniard controlled the ball in the box before he deployed an improvised acrobatic finish to beat Jose Sa.
Soon after Enzo Maresca’s side finished the game off through a Noni Madueke tap in. In the 65th minute a Cole Palmer crossed the ball from a freekick deep into the box for Trevoh Chalobah. He leapt over the Wolves defenders and headed the ball to the goal which seemed like an inevitable goal on his return from loan, until Madueke confirmed the goal and headed the goal practically on the goal line.
Far from the perfect game, many errors and issues that Maresca has suffered with recently were apparent throughout the game. Their inability to maintain pressure after they took the lead has frustrated and confused fans. For the first 20 minutes, there was no stopping the Blues however it seemed that once they took the lead, the patterns in play and confidence completely fizzled for the rest of the first half.
Chelsea did pick up form again in the second half which ultimately gave them the momentum to go on and win the game. Most of the credit should be given to the defenders who were the clear standouts of the match. Three of the back four were involved in at least one goal, with Chalobah unfortunate to not make it onto the scoresheet.
Chalobah deservedly won Man of the Match on his first game after his Crystal Palace loan was prematurely ended due to limited centre-back options for Maresca after injuries. His performance proved that the decision to let him go in the summer was an error by the owners as he showed that he had the technical ability to fit into Maresca’s system. The fans also clearly appreciated the player, chanting his name throughout the 90 minutes. Hopefully, he can keep up these performances and prove why he deserves a place at the club.
Reece James was also impressive in his first Premier League start since his last injury. As always with James, it was never a question of how good he would be when he got back to the pitch, rather how long will he be able to stay on the pitch. Hopefully Maresca and his staff will give extra attention and care to ensure that James is fit for as long as possible as his absence is always felt by the team.
A quiet game for the forwards, who have struggled to step up recently if Palmer is not involved in the goals, it safe to Nicolas Jackson has hit a rough patch in form and with Nkunku falling out favour within the team, it could be an opportunity for Marc Guiu to step up.
Despite his slightly contentious goal, Madueke had an underwhelming game and struggled to show the dynamism and quality that we have seen before from the English winger. He has a lot of potential and I believe as he matures he will become a consistent threat to any left back in the Premier League.
The three points put Chelsea back into the top four, two points clear of Newcastle and their next opponents in the Premier League, Manchester City. Much to improve and work on, however, fans and especially Maresca can breathe a sigh of relief to finally win a Premier League game and hope its the end of this dip in form.
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