LONDON: Malo Gusto, Joao Pedro and Pedro Neto struck in the second half as Chelsea outclassed Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 on Saturday to climb to second in the Premier League table and extend the visitor’s winless run.
Enzo Maresca’s men are six points behind leader Arsenal with 20 points after 11 games, with Manchester City (19) hosting Liverpool (18) on Sunday.
Wolves, which was managed by Under-21 coach James Collins after Vitor Pereira was sacked last week, is bottom with two points after the worst start to a season in the club’s history.
Chelsea seized control from the outset, but a wasteful first half had the Stamford Bridge fans booing the players off the pitch at the break.
It was significantly better in the second half, and Gusto finally broke the deadlock in the 51st minute with his first senior goal in 98 games since joining Chelsea from Lyon, when he nodded Alejandro Garnacho’s cross in at the back post from short range. The goal lifted the mood in a game that had provided little excitement in the first half.
Pedro doubled Chelsea’s lead in the 65th minute when Brazilian Estevao beat a defender before pulling the ball back to his compatriot who slotted home from the middle of the box.
Neto scored against his former team to put the game out of reach eight minutes later when he tapped in an excellent cross from Garnacho.
Chelsea had 18 shots, including seven on target, to the visitor’s three, and it swarmed Wolverhampton’s net until the final whistle, with substitute Marc Guiu and Neto squandering late chances.
Wolves’ catastrophic start to the season has it eight points adrift of the safety zone, and no team has ever stayed up in England’s top flight with two points after 11 games. It has scored the joint-fewest goals in the division while simultaneously boasting the league’s leakiest defence. Agencies
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