Cole Palmer scored a first-half hat-trick, including two penalties, to give Chelsea a comfortable 3-1 victory over Wolves at Molineux. The England midfielder netted three times in 25 minutes, putting the game beyond the home side by the 38th minute.
Wolves had started brightly but gifted Chelsea the lead on 12 minutes when captain Matt Doherty clumsily fouled João Pedro in the box. Palmer sent goalkeeper José Sá the wrong way from the spot. The second goal came from another Wolves error, as Yerson Mosquera shoved João Pedro, and Palmer again converted the penalty.
Palmer completed his hat-trick with a superb team goal, started by goalkeeper Robert Sánchez and finished with a first-time strike from Marc Cucurella's cross. Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior praised his side's football, saying, 'That is the type of football we want to play.'
Wolves pulled a goal back nine minutes into the second half through Tolu Arokodare, but Chelsea eased off thereafter. Wolves boss Rob Edwards lamented his side's 'ludicrous mistakes', which have now seen them lose four consecutive matches to Chelsea by an aggregate score of 15-4.
