GRAHAM POTTER’S gamble paid off with a third victory in eight days for reshuffled Chelsea.
Winning is becoming a habit again as boss Potter settles into his new job and despite squad rotation on a mass scale, feeble Wolves were brushed aside.
So much so that the Chelsea crowd enjoyed the luxury of paying homage to one-time terrace idol Diego Costa on his return to Stamford Bridge for the first time since his undignified departure five years ago.
The striker who played a major role in his former club’s title wins in 2015 and 2017 was saluted from the moment he stepped onto the pitch until he was substituted after just less than an hour.
The sight of an away team player high-fiving home supporters while trudging past on his route to the away dugout is surprising and not one you will see that often.
It also might not have been the case had the once-combustible centre-forward posed any kind of threat to the Chelsea goal.
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But strikes from Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic had put managerless Wolves out of their misery long before Costa called it a day having mustered only one notable cross and a semi-aggressive shove in the back of Ruben Loftus-Cheek to account for his day’s work.
On the evidence of this and a cameo appearance against West Ham last week, it is a long shot to expect him to be able to summon up the fire and the ire of yesteryear to haul his current team out of danger.
Even so, his Costa’s return to his old home patch gave everyone inside Stamford Bridge a lift. Still regarded by the home fans as Chelsea’s best and most colourful striker since, he was greeted warmly with the chanting of his name from all sides of the ground.
He responded by raising his arms in applause with hands above his head to all the supporters.
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Just one player from his time in West London remains in the Chelsea team – captain Cesar Azpilicueta – to show how quickly things move on in football.
Having celebrated his 34th birthday on Friday, the question was how would Costa be able to influence a match against his old team?
No way will he be able to come anywhere near the 52 goals in 89 Premier League games during his first stint in England. He even came off briefly in the first half to switch his boots but it didn’t help.
Wolves remain desperately in need of a win as they await the appointment of Julen Lopetegui as manager in the next week or so.
They need Costa to dig that inbuilt aggression out of his DNA to lift his struggling team.
Instead the first input was not a rasping shot at breakneck speed, a square up to a defender. It was a delicate, floated cross from the right side of the box in the seventh minute, which hung in the air for Matheus Nunes advancing into the box.
However, the midfielder failed to connect properly and the opportunity melted away.
Wolves did not have exclusive rights to wasting good chances and Chelsea, wholly reshuffled following Wednesday’s Champions League win over AC Milan, went close through Mason Mount, Jorginho, Christian Pulisic and Azpilicueta.
They should have been more than one goal up at half time. And the way in which Wolves went behind was more down to the visitors’ weak defending than Chelsea’s potency.
Costa was back guarding his goal under attack, heading clear a cross inside his six yard box.
The ball was then recycled by Mount who pumped a high ball across the area looking for a connection.
Kai Havertz, in the centre forward role in place of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, climbed highest and placed a header diagonally back towards goal, catching Wolves keeper Jose Sa flat-footed.
He could only stand and watch as the looping ball arced over his head and into the net to give Chelsea the lead on the stroke of half time, as Costa looked around in disbelief.
There were chances for them to score. The best of which fell to the impressive Matheus Nunes from a set-piece.
When Azpilicueta chopped down Goncalo Guedes on the edge of his own box, it offered Wolves a chance to take the lead.
Nunes bent his free kick expertly around the defensive wall but Chelsea keeper Kepa was able to paw the shot clear.
Nunes later headed over from inside the box but Wolves are rudderless at present after the sacking of Bruna Lage and will probably remain so until Lopetgui gets the job in the next seven days or so.
Caretaker boss Davis even admitted he was surprised to take over first team chores for now. The club’s Under-18s coach was watching his son play football for Keele University last week when the call came through from Molineux awarding him temporary promotion.
Any hope of getting something from a new, more robust Chelsea side fizzled out when Christian Pulisic scored his first goal of the season nine minutes into the second half, latching onto a stunning turn on the spot from Mount that left him clear to lift the ball over the prone Sa.
Sub Armando Broja scored his first goal for Chelsea in the last minute. It is also the first time they have kept a clean sheet at home in the Premier League this season.
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