Noni Madueke hit a hat-trick as Chelsea crushed Wolves 6-2 to give Enzo Maresca his first Premier League win as Blues manager on Sunday.
Maresca suffered a 2-0 loss against Manchester City last weekend in his first game since arriving from Leicester to replace Mauricio Pochettino in the close-season.
But they hit the goals trail in style this weekend with England attacker Cole Palmer opening his account for the season as well supplying all three of Madueke's treble. Nicolas Jackson and Joao Felix provided the first and last goals, respectively.
“It is unbelievable,” said Madueke of his teammate. “He 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.”
Chelsea got off the mark under Maresca with a Uefa Conference League play-off victory against Servette on Thursday, but that low-key success was only the prelude to their goal spree at Molineux.
Maresca's side made the perfect start after just 98 seconds when Matheus Cunha could only flick his attempted clearance from a corner towards Jackson, who was left unmarked to head in from six yards.
Jackson's goal infuriated Wolves fans already angry with Chelsea after Madueke posted and then deleted an abusive description of Wolverhampton just hours before kick-off for which he apologised after the match.
Cunha, though, hauled the hosts level in the 27th minute as the Brazilian forward tormented the Blues again after last season's hat-trick at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea's Moises Caicedo carelessly lost possession and Rayan Ait-Nouri drove forward before teeing up Cunha, whose fierce strike flashed past Robert Sanchez and sparked a samba-dancing goal celebration.
Palmer restored Chelsea's advantage in the 45th minute, the England forward taking Jackson's flick and lobbing a sublime finish over Wolves keeper Jose Sa.
The Blues made a hash of clearing Ait-Nouri's free-kick seconds before the half-time whistle and Toti headed it across to Jorgen Strand Larsen, who poked home from close-range.
But the rollercoaster clash switched back in Chelsea's favour in the 49th minute as Palmer found Madueke and his shot deflected in off Ait-Nouri.
Madueke struck again nine minutes later, slotting a composed finish through Sa's legs after Palmer's run unhinged the creaky Wolves defence.
The 22-year-old completed his treble with a carbon copy of his two previous goals, once again finishing off another Palmer assist to silence the Wolves boo-boys.
“In the first 10 minutes he had two chances and overall he was very good,” Marecsa said of a player who has been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge.
“The only thing I didn't like from Noni is the free-kick he gave away before half-time and we can avoid that. especially against a team who are good from set-pieces.”
Felix came off the bench to cap the rout in the 80th minute as the Portugal forward marked his first game back at Chelsea following his permanent move from Atletico Madrid earlier in the week.
Felix, who spent the second half of the 2022-23 season on loan at Chelsea, blasted into the top corner after former Wolves forward Pedro Neto picked him out.
“The performance was good,” said Maresca. “The first half was not a complete performance, we started well in the first 10 to 15 minutes, we scored a goal and had two or three more chances.
“Then we lost a few easy balls. When you want to build from behind you cannot allow yourself to lose easy balls otherwise you concede set pieces and counter attacks. You need to be more accurate.
“Second half the team was more accurate. They did not give away any easy balls and overall the performance was good.”
Two defeats on the spin, meanwhile, leaves Wolves avoiding bottom spot in the table by goal difference only. “We lost our way. They were unacceptable [errors] from us,” said Wolves manager O'Neill.
“I am all for positivity and when the lads do well they know they have done well, but from all of us as a group to concede those three [second-half] goals as we do is unacceptable.”
