Chelsea 2 Wolves 4 - Report

Cunha scored the first of his treble to cancel out Cole Palmer's 20th minute opener as Wolves levelled within two minutes of falling behind.

Wolves took the lead on the cusp of half-time when Axel Disasi was awarded with the own goal. Pedro Neto broke down the right to square for Rayan Ait-Nouri, whose finish took a heavy deflection to beat Djordje Petrovic in the Chelsea goal.

Neto provided another assist for Cunha just past the hour, and he completed his hat-trick from the spot eight minutes from time after being chopped down by Malo Gusto.

Thiago Silva pulled one back for Chelsea, but Wolves comfortably held onto a first victory at Stamford Bridge since 1979.

An open and free-flowing start saw early chances created by both teams. Neto and Cunha drew a pair of saves from Petrovic, whilst Christopher Nkunku was prevented from prodding the ball home by a last-gasp challenge from Craig Dawson.

Ait-Nouri made his first start of 2024 and his introduction brought an injection of pace down the left. Pablo Sarabia and Joao Gomes also came back into the starting XI after making their returns from the bench against Manchester United at Molineux in midweek.

Christopher Nkunku started for Chelsea following his goal from the bench at Anfield in midweek and posed a dangerous threat early on. The Frenchman dropped deep to start an attack and the hosts worked the ball out wide for Palmer, whose deflected effort went wide of Jose Sa's right-hand post.

Palmer made no mistake with his second chance when he latched onto Moises Caicedo's ball in behind to bury a tidy finish into the bottom corner in the 19th minute. The 21-year-old snuck behind Toti and scored for the fourth consecutive league game at Stamford Bridge.

Wolves levelled the contest less than two minutes after falling behind with Cunha's strike deflecting off his Brazil colleague Thiago Silva to wrongfoot Petrovic.

Joao Gomes, who produced a strong first half display, burst into the final third and fed Cunha, who made it nine goals the campaign in all competitions.

Sterling failed to keep his effort down after Chelsea worked a clever free-kick short, whilst Mauro Lemina could only glance Sarabia's floated free-kick onto the roof of the net.

Neto was a constant thorn in Chelsea's side and he almost completed a mesmerising run from halfway until Thiago Silva stopped him in his tracks.

Just before the break, the Portugal international skipped down the right again and squared for Ait-Nouri, whose finish took a heavy deflection off Axel Disasi (later credited as an oewn goal) to bamboozle Petrovic.

Wolves showed no signs of resting on their laurels in the second half and yet another lung-busting run into the box by Neto set the tone for the rest of the second period.

He could only draw a comfortable save from Petrovic on that occasion, but the Wolves winger proceeded to run Chelsea's defence ragged.

Chelsea came close to levelling when Ben Chilwell cushioned down a ball to the back post, but Sterling could only slot wide of Sa's left-hand post.

Yet there was always a sense that this was Wolves' afternoon and that's exactly how it proved when Cunha doubled their advantage to reach double figures for the campaign.

Neto was the catalyst yet again as he galloped away from his marker and timed his pull back to perfection for Cunha to sit down Petrovic and dispatch the ball beyond him with a classy finish.

Wolves almost scored a fourth immediately after when Cunha lifted a sumptuous cross to the back post but Sarabia was unable to keep his effort down.

Jackson Martinez missed a gilt-edged chance to reduce the deficit for Chelsea when he planted a header wide, and he would be made to rue that mistake when Cunha was chopped down inside the penalty area by Malo Gusto.

Cunha sent Petrovic the wrong way by calmly rolling his finish into the bottom corner from the spot. The Brazilian scored his first hat-trick in the English top-flight, and his first for any club since scoring a treble Swiss outfit FC Sion in 2018.

Wolves were made to sweat for the closing stages when Thiago Silva reduced the deficit. Mykhailo Mudryk delivered his corner to the near post and the Chelsea skipper stole in front of his marker to glance his header into the far corner, despite the best efforts of Max Kilman on the line.

The nerves were jangling when the fourth official added 10 minutes of stoppage time, and they intensified further when Jackson Martinez found himself bearing down on goal. Craig Dawson produced a superb last-ditch challenge to deny him, before Kilman blocked Palmer's shot on the follow-up.

Jean-Ricner Bellegarde failed to mark his appearance from the bench with a fifth. The Frenchman was released by fellow substitute Hugo Bueno but Petrovic saved with relative ease.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Petrovic; Gusto (Gilchrist 81), Silva, Disasi, Chilwell (Badiashile 81); Caicedo (Martinez 63), E Fernandez; Nkunku (Chukwuemeka 72), Gallagher, Sterling (Mudryk 72); Palmer.

Subs not used: Bettinelli, Madueke, Casadei, Bergstrom.

Wolves (3-4-2-1): Sa; Kilman, Dawson, Toti; Semedo, Lemina, Gomes (Doherty 90), Ait-Nouri (H Bueno 88); Sarabia (Doyle 72), Cunha; Neto (Bellegarde 72).

Subs not used: Bentley, S Bueno, Griffiths, Chirewa, Fraser.

Referee: Tim Robinson