Cunha hits hat-trick in Wolves demolition of sorry-looking Chelsea
Aiming to clinch a fifth successive PL win at Stamford Bridge for the first time since July 2020, Chelsea made a tentative start to the contest, casually ceding possession and allowing both Pedro Neto and Matheus Cunha to fire early strikes on target.
The Blues had appeared to shake off that rustiness though, with Christopher Nkunku coming close before Cole Palmer slotted home Moisés Caicedo’s defence-splitting pass to put the hosts ahead.
However, the £115 million man turned villain just 127 seconds later, after losing the ball in midfield and allowing a counterattack that saw a deflected Cunha effort wrong-foot Đorđe Petrović for a quickfire equaliser.
Far from regroup, Mauricio Pochettino’s men were caught cold once again on the stroke of HT, as Neto’s cutback found Rayan Aït-Nouri, who buried his low shot from close range via another significant deflection, marking his 100th Wolves appearance with a goal.
Chelsea had rarely threatened José Sá in the visitors’ goal after conceding the equaliser but they emerged with fresh attacking impetus after the break.
Raheem Sterling passed up a golden opportunity when he dragged Ben Chillwell’s lay-off wide of the mark, allowing Wolves to eventually wrestle back momentum.
Searching for a spark, Pochettino turned to Nicolas Jackson, but the away side extended their lead moments after his introduction.
Once again, Neto proved too much to handle for the Chelsea defence, racing through to tee up Cunha for his second goal of the day.
After Jackson missed a golden chance to reduce the deficit with a back-post header, Cunha put the game to bed from the spot, capitalising on Malo Gusto’s rash challenge.
A late consolation from a Thiago Silva header did little to change the outcome, as Wolves saw out all three points from there, immediately bouncing back from the agonising 4-3 loss to Manchester United on Thursday with just their second away win in seven PL fixtures.
Meanwhile, Chelsea suffer a first defeat at home to Wolves since March 1979 (W8, D4) as they continue to underwhelm, dropping to 11th in the league, one point behind their most recent conquerors.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Matheus Cunha (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
