Chelsea 4-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers

                                                                                 Malouda 5
                                                                               Essien 12, 22
                                                                                 Cole 56

Chelsea cruised to another easy and impressive home victory against a Wolves side which appeared to be still shellshocked after their heavy home defeat to Arsenal before the international break.

The win, which was also a record-breaking tenth consecutive Stamford Bridge clean sheet, puts Chelsea five points clear at the top of the EPL table.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men were particularly impressive given that players such as Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard were missing through injury.

The game was over as a contest by the time Michael Essien had headed the Blues two in front in the 12th minute.

And the second half was notable only for whether Essien would complete his hat-trick and the debut of French teenager Gael Kakuta.

Kakuta’s controversial move to Chelsea saw the West London outfit banned from transfer activities for two transfer windows by FIFA, a decision now pending appeal.

But Kakuta’s first cameo in a first-team Chelsea shirt was impressive enough to momentarily cast all such concerns aside.

The visitors actually started the brighter of the two sides but were badly caught out of Chelsea’s fifth-minute opener.

A long, aimless clearance by centre-half Alex was poorly dealt with by Joey Craddock, allowing Florent Malouda time and space to advance and crack a 25-yard left-foot shot past keeper Wayne Hennessy’s right-hand.

Malouda turned provider when his near-post corner was headed home by an unattended Essien, who grabbed his second and Chelsea’s third midway through the half with a deflected shot from the edge of the box which squirmed under Hennessy’s body.

Joe Cole grabbed his first Chelsea goal for 13 months, on 56 minutes, although Hennessy will again feel he might have done better with the low drive to his left.

And despite his best efforts, Essien was unable to complete his hat-trick, coming closest on 62 minutes when Hennessy tipped his fierce long-range shot onto the crossbar.

Tags: Chelsea, Carlo Ancelotti, Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Joey Craddock, Florent Malouda

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Chelsea 4-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers

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