LONDON —
After being booed relentlessly by the home fans for a disparaging message towards Wolverhampton on social media, Noni Madueke responded with a second-half hat-trick to give Chelsea their first win under manager Enzo Maresca.
Madueke scored all three goals in a 14-minute span, all assisted by Cole Palmer, in a 6-2 win over Wolves on Sunday that provided the same sense of chaos that surrounds Chelsea today.
But the devastating display in the second half also showed that Maresca has some idea of how to take advantage of the wealth of offensive talent at his disposal.
Madueke’s hat-trick capped a day in which he was the focus of attention for using a foul term when describing “everything about this place” after the Chelsea expedition landed in Wolverhampton. Although he later deleted the post, Wolves fans let him know they were not happy with the sentiment and booed him at every opportunity.
It was a bad idea.
After Chelsea had twice let themselves be beaten in the first half, which included a fine finish from Palmer from long range for the second goal, Madueke sank Wolves in the second half.
All of his goals were scored by Palmer, who provided passes from the right. Madueke always ended up beating goalkeeper José Sá with shots from a tight angle.
New signing Joao Felix sealed the rout after latching on to a cross from fellow Portuguese winger Pedro Neto, who joined from Wolves this month.
Nicolas Jackson headed Chelsea ahead in the 27th minute and Matheus Cunha levelled in the 27th. Palmer scored his wonder goal in the second minute of added time but Jorgen Strand Larsen equalised for Wolves shortly before the break.
In the other game played early on Sunday, VAR denied Bournemouth a late victory and they settled for a 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle.
Dango Ouattara looked to have given Bournemouth all three points with a header in stoppage time, but the goal was ruled out for handball.
Bournemouth struck first with Marcus Tavernier’s goal in the 37th, but Anthony Gordon equalized for Newcastle in the 76th.
