Chelsea climbed up to second place in the Premier League table after brushing aside Wolves 3–0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, November 8, 2025. The victory, which came after a sluggish first half, showed again why Enzo Maresca’s side are starting to look like proper title challengers this season and why Softfootball touted them to win comfortably in the pre-game report.
Maresca made as many as seven changes from the midweek 2-2 draw against Qarabag in the UEFA Champions League, but it didn’t seem to affect their early rhythm. Within the first three minutes, Enzo Fernández had already tested Wolves’ keeper Sam Johnstone twice.
Softfootball reports that the Blues looked hungry, but for all their early control, they couldn’t find a way through. Wolves, now under interim manager James Collins, defended smartly and stayed compact. By halftime, it was still 0–0, and honestly, that felt fair enough. Chelsea were dominant but missing that final spark.
The second half, though, was a completely different story. The Blues came out sharper and more direct, and it didn’t take long before they got the breakthrough. In the 51st minute, Alejandro Garnacho whipped in a delicious cross to the far post, and Malo Gusto rose perfectly to nod in his first-ever professional goal.
The crowd erupted, and it felt like Chelsea had finally found their flow. Chelsea also acknowledged Gusto’s feat in a post made via their official X account.
They posted:
After that, Wolves tried to push higher up the pitch, but that was exactly what Chelsea wanted. Fourteen minutes later, substitute Estêvão, barely on the pitch for a few minutes, skipped past his marker down the right and squared for João Pedro, who coolly tucked it home. It was a classic counter-attacking move: fast, simple, and effective.
By the 73rd minute, Chelsea wrapped things up for good. Garnacho, easily the standout player on the day, darted down the left flank and squared across goal for Pedro Neto, who slotted past Johnstone with calm precision. It was his first goal against his former club, and he didn’t hide how much it meant.
The win pushes Chelsea to within six points of league leaders Arsenal and keeps their strong home record intact, with only one defeat in their last twelve games against Wolves at Stamford Bridge. Maresca will be happy with how his team bounced back after that dull first half, showing real depth and focus.
For Wolves, though, it’s another worrying result. Still without a league win this season, the team looked short on ideas going forward. The sacking of Vítor Pereira hasn’t done much to change their fortunes, and with talk that Rob Edwards could take over soon, he’ll have quite the mess to clean up.
