Noni Madueke silenced the boos with a second-half hat-trick, all assisted by Cole Palmer, as Chelsea crushed Wolverhampton Wanderers 6-2 away in a frenetic Premier League clash at Molineux on Sunday.
Chelsea’s first Premier League points of the season and the first for new manager Enzo Maresca arrived in spectacular fashion as the visitors ripped Wolves apart after the break following an absorbing first period.
Maresca’s side led twice in the first half with goals by Nicolas Jackson and Palmer but both times Wolves deservedly hit back through Matheus Cunha and Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Wolves fell apart after the break, however, and Madueke took the game beyond them with three goals in 15 minutes.
Joao Felix came off the bench to mark his return to the club with his side’s sixth goal.
Much has been made of Chelsea’s huge squad assembled at massive cost and the baffling puzzle Italian Maresca has been hired to solve, but the youthful side he sent out on Sunday including nine players aged 23 or under gelled impressively.
Madueke was the villain for the home fans in more ways than one. The English forward was booed from the start after a deleted social media post in which he insulted the city of Wolverhampton.
He silenced the hecklers in emphatic fashion, however, to get Chelsea’s league campaign up and running after their opening defeat by champions Manchester City.
“Today means a lot. I was really just trying to be clever and wait for the right moment,” Madueke said.
“It is unbelievable. (Palmer) is cold and I am fire so it mixes well. He has the ability to always play a pass at the right time. I like to get the ball in space, beat people and make things happen, so luckily today it worked.”
Liverpool stroll
Arne Slot’s comfortable start to life as Liverpool manager continued when his new side strolled to a 2-0 victory over Brentford.
Liverpool dominated early on, scoring a fine opening goal on the counter attack when Luis Diaz arrowed his first of the season into the top corner with 13 minutes on the clock.
Brentford responded well, going close with two short-range headers either side of halftime, but Mohamed Salah ended the visitors’ hopes of taking anything from their trip to Anfield with a second goal 20 minutes from time.
Dutchman Slot now has two 2-0 wins from two games as he undertakes the difficult task of replacing Juergen Klopp as Liverpool boss, with a testing trip to Manchester United up next.
Salah is now Liverpool’s outright fifth top scorer at Anfield in all competitions with 118 goals, moving ahead of Robbie Fowler as he again looks primed to be front and centre of a Red title tilt.
