Noni Madueke scored a stunning fourteen-minute hat trick that saw Chelsea hammer Wolves 6-2 at Molineux on Sunday afteroon. Most pundits felt pre-game that it was a draw or even a Wolves win, and the game was competitive till the interval (2-2) before the home side fell apart early in the second half.
Here are our talking points from the clash.
Cole Palmer in a central role does a Fabregas
There have been many folks asking for Cole Palmer to play in a more central role, and the forward showed what he was capable of in that position, racking up a hat-trick of assists for Noni Madueke in a 14 minute period in the second half.
Palmer became the first Chelsea player to achieve a PL assist hat-trick since Cesc Fabregas did so over 8 years ago (in April 2016 v Bournemouth to be precise).
He also scored a wonderful individual goal, although some pundits felt it should’ve been disallowed because the ball wasn’t stationary.
Madueke stars on the wing for the Blues
Noni Madueke was a constant threat down the right wing for Chelsea- the first shot of the game came from him in the 2nd minute (and the Blues scored from the resulting corner seconds later).
Palmer and Madueke combined very well and made life tough for Rayan Ait-Nouri, who was playing left back for Wolves. All three of Madueke’s goals came in the same area of the pitch.
In the process, Madueke became the 6th youngest Chelsea player to score an EPL hat trick (22y 168d), and it’s only the 5th time that a Premier League hat trick has had the same player assisting all the goals.
No surprise that both Palmer and Madueke found themselves named in the official PL Team of of the Week for MW2
Wolves struggle with 4 ATB
Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Gary O’Neill has experimented with 4 at the back in an attempt to give his side more attacking impetus upfront, but it seems they don’t quite have the players to fit that system (Doherty, Mosquera, Toti, Rayan Ait-Nouri)
Ait-Nouri was constantly out of position on the left wing, although he wasn’t helped defensively by Bellegarde as Palmer and Madueke made merry.
Maybe it’s time for them to revert to 3 ATB, but with their lack of investment in the transfer market, Wolves could find this season to be a long one.
Felix scores on second CFC debut
Joao Felix marked his second Chelsea debut with a goal- the sixth and last one on the afternoon, set up by former Wolves player Pedro Neto. It put the icing on a wonderful second half for the Blues, although some of their defensive lapses in the first half would not have gone unnoticed by coach Enzo Maresca.
