Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-4 Chelsea: 10-man Chelsea fend off spirited Wolves fightback | OneFootball

Chelsea staved off a late Wolves comeback to eventually win 4-3 and qualify for the Carabao Cup quarter-finals at Molineux.

The Blues had raced into a 3-0 lead thanks to first-half goals from Andrey Santos, Tyrique George and Estêvão, but Wolves came within one after Tolu Arokodare and David Møller Wolfe made things nervy in the second period.

A red card for substitute Liam Delap looked to open the door for Wolves to complete their comeback, only for Jamie Gittens to re-extend the Chelsea lead three minutes later. Møller Wolfe would score again in stoppage-time, but it was too little, too late for Vítor Pereira’s men.

As it happened

Going into the match, there was pressure mounting for both sides, particularly the hosts: Wolves were sat at the bottom of the Premier League without a win and the pressure was mounting on the players, manager and owner to turn the ship around. Following their defeat at home to Burnley at the weekend there was real possibility that Pereira would not take charge of tonight’s fixture at all. However following backing from the owners, the Portuguese almost guided his side to a much needed win.

Enzo Maresca has overseen a start to Chelsea’s season in which they just can’t seem to get going following impressive victories over Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Ajax. Maresca’s men slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home to Sunderland at the weekend, a game in which the Black Cats were the better side and showed that things aren’t quite there for the Blues as of now. With all the investment in their squad over the past years, consistent trophies need to become the norm and quickly.

Chelsea raced ahead early at Molineux. Santos put the visitors ahead in the fifth minute mark before George and Estêvão made the game almost appear like a formality before the half time whistle had even gone. English winger Gittens was on fire in the first half, assisting the first two goals whilst causing havoc for the Wolves back line throughout.

The feeling around Molineux was bad. Fans taunted manager Pereira while the players became responsible for their own downfall, with a faulty pass from striker Arokodare leading to Chelsea scoring their opener.

But the game would soon change. Hwang Hee-Chan assisted Arokodare almost immediately after the restart to give the Blues some nerves and force Maresca to bring on his more experienced players, suring up a young side that was starting to wobble. It may have taken a while, but that wobble nearly became a fall when full-back Møller Wolfe hit a lovely volley past Filip Jörgensen to increase both the nerves and volume around Molineux.

The substitutions completely changed the scope of the game along with a red card for Chelsea. Delap, introduced in the 61st minute, was first booked for pulling on Yerson Mosquera’s shirt and then dismissed after a reckless challenge on Emmanuel Agbadou.

Soon, a man to the good, Wolves were on top and looking for a dramatic equaliser. However, the threat of Gittens didn’t go away and the Englishman fired home a bullet from outside the box past José Sá to restore the two goal advantage and all but end the tie.

But Wolves didn’t give up and Møller Wolfe lobbed Jörgensen to make it 4-3 in the closing minutes for a nervy finish.

Ultimately it was once again not the night for Wolves, however their manager and fans will be encouraged by the stronger performances of their players. For Chelsea, it was a necessary victor that will give them a boost heading into a London derby at the weekend where the Blues will want to return to winning ways in the league.

The line-ups

WOL: Sá; Doherty, Mosquera, Gomes, Møller Wolfe; Agbadou; Tchatchoua, López, Gomes, Hwang; Arokodare