Chelsea 3-0 Wolves: Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic and Armando Broja strike as Diego Costa fails to fire on Stamford Bridge return

Chelsea cruised to a 3-0 win over managerless Wolves in Graham Potter’s first home Premier League game in charge to move fourth in the Premier League and extend a poor start to the season from the visitors.

Diego Costa’s return to Stamford Bridge was a big talking point but the two-time Chelsea Premier League-winner was unable to trouble his former side, with Wolves, led by academy coaches Steve Davis and James Collins, on the back foot for much of the contest.

After passing up a series of chances, Chelsea eventually made their first-half dominance count when Kai Havertz (45+2) looped his effort in off the far post and a relieved Christian Pulisic (54) – who could have had a hat-trick in that opening period – put the result beyond doubt after a smart exchange with Mason Mount, scoring his first goal of the season.

Costa, making his first Premier League start since May 2017, received a standing ovation from the home fans when he was subbed off on 57 minutes but even with the iconic forward in their ranks, Wolves had looked toothless in attack.

Image: Wolves’ Diego Costa is given a standing ovation by Chelsea supporters

They have scored just three times in their nine league matches this season – as many goals as Chelsea ended up with in this match, when Armando Broja (90) stepped off the bench, beat the offside trap and fired in a late third – and his first for the club – to continue Potter’s unbeaten start in style. As for the visitors, they have one win from nine games and look in need of inspiration.

Player ratings

Chelsea: Kepa (7), Azpilicueta (7), Chalobah (7), Koulibaly (7), Cucurella (7), Jorginho (7), Mount (8), Gallagher (8), Loftus-Cheek (7), Havertz (8), Pulisic (7).

Subs: Kovacic (7), Broja (8), James (6), Ziyech (N/A), Chukwuemeka (N/A).

Wolves: Sa (7), Semedo (5), Kilman (5), Toti (5), Jonny (5), Nunes (6), Moutinho (7), Traore (6), Guedes (6), Podence (5), Costa (6).

Subs: Hodge (6), Hwang (6), Ait-Nouri (6), Campbell (6).

Player of the match: Mason Mount (Chelsea).

How Chelsea cruised to victory

Chelsea had outplayed Italian title holders AC Milan here in the Champions League on Wednesday night and they were full of confidence in the early stages, with Conor Gallagher leading the charge down the right side, after darting back into his own box to make a block.

Gallagher, Havertz and Mount were all off target and Jorginho saw a shot saved by Jose Sa as Chelsea camped in the visitors’ half but it was Pulisic who was most wasteful. The American saw three good moments come and go inside half an hour and slammed the turf after planting an unconvincing header over the bar. He couldn’t have done much more with a bending shot soon after though, which had Sa at full stretch.

Team news

Wolves – who only tested Kepa with a routine stop from Joao Moutinho’s free-kick and saw a Matheus Nunes header go over just before the break – thought they’d survived until half-time but on the stroke of the interval, Chelsea finally got their reward.

Image: Kai Havertz celebrates after putting Chelsea ahead against Wolves

Mount found some space out wide on the right – much to the frustration of Costa – and crossed for Havertz to pull away from Nelson Semedo and lob a header over Sa and in off the far post.

The visitors – with 20-year-old midfielder Joe Hodge thrown on for his senior debut – began the second half with energy and intent but any hope of a comeback was stalled when Pulisic converted from a swift one-two with Mount.

Image: Christian Pulisic doubles Chelsea’s lead over Wolves

Wolves coaches Davis and Collins used the opportunity to give 19-year-old Chem Campbell some more Premier League minutes as the game meandered to its conclusion but after Daniel Podence passed up the chance to play in Adama Traore, Broja’s late, angled finish demonstrated the cutting edge Wolves will have to find to get themselves out of trouble.

England watch: Mount and Gallagher impress

After recent impressive performances from Leicester’s James Maddison, Mason Mount demonstrated his attacking attributes in a fine performance, crossing for Kai Havertz’s opener and then pulling off a brilliant reverse pass for Christian Pulisic to add the second.

His midfield colleague Conor Gallagher seized his own starting role, driving Chelsea’s play down the right side of the pitch in a performance which will have caught Gareth Southgate’s eye, after the England boss left him out of his last squad.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek has barely featured in recent times for the national side but was solid in central midfield, although Ben Chilwell was left on the bench and unable to get a runout like fellow sub Reece James.

What’s next?

Chelsea are back in Champions League action on Tuesday night as they travel to AC Milan, before visiting Aston Villa live on Sky Sports Premier League next Sunday.

Sunday 16th October 1:00pm Kick off 2:00pm

Wolves host lowly Nottingham Forest next Saturday before a midweek trip to Crystal Palace, visiting Selhurst Park on October 18.