Chelsea ratings: Cole Palmer is one of few stars to look calm and composed but Sterling must start offering more

CHELSEA fell into the bottom half as Wolves ended their run of ten games unbeaten at Stamford Bridge in style.

The Blues’ home form was one of the only things Mauricio Pochettino had to point to by way of progress, but Gary O’Neil’s men made light work of a shocking Chelsea side as Matheus Cunha bagged a hat-trick.

Raheem Sterling offered virtually nothing going forward

PA

Cole Palmer put Chelsea in front but they trailed by half-time[/caption]

It started so well as Cole Palmer finished off a fine flowing move to put the hosts ahead, but they were behind three minutes later when Joao Gomes robbed Moises Caicedo before playing in Cunha, who grabbed a first with his deflected goal.

Some equally open defending allowed Wolves to get a second before the break, with Rayan Ait-Nouri converting Pedro Neto’s cross.

Neto set up the third too, racing through the Blues defence before cutting back for Cunha, who completed his hat-trick from the spot after 82 minutes.

Thiago Silva pulled one back from a late corner but Wolves had long had this wrapped up.

Here is how the Chelsea players rated…

Djordje Petrovic – 6

Made a couple of good saves throughout and cannot be blamed for any of the Wolves goals. You would not envy anyone who has to play in goal behind this Chelsea side at the moment.

Malo Gusto – 5

The right-back came into the starting XI having impressed of late and certainly made his mark with a daft challenge from behind on Matheus Cunha to concede a second half penalty.

Reuters

Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher tries to evade Mario Lemina[/caption]

Axel Disasi – 5

Unfortunate to have Wolves’ first goal deflect off him and in but it was another unconvincing display from the Frenchman.

Thiago Silva – 5

A nightmare afternoon up against Wolves’ speedy winger, Pedro Neto. The 39-year-old could not be expected to keep up with Neto and it was a fight he was never going to win from the off.

His consolation goal could not help a bad day for both him and Chelsea.

Ben Chilwell – 5

Played a few smart balls into the box which should been put away by his team-mates, but left a lot to be desired at the back.

Chilwell’s high position constantly left the veteran Silva exposed against the pace of Neto.

Enzo Fernandez – 5

Often tries to get things going forwards from midfield, but still managed to throw his own mistake in, handing the ball over to Neto as he raced away to set up Wolves’ third.

Moises Caicedo – 4

The Ecuadorian looks a shadow of the midfielder Chelsea broke a transfer record to bring from Brighton at times.

Showed a flash of class to set up Palmer wonderfully for the opener before being pushed off the ball all too easily by Neto and Joao Gomes moments later as Wolves broke away to score. Constantly looks nervy on the ball.

Cole Palmer – 6

One of the few Chelsea players this season to look calm and composed in the final third, providing another fine first half finish here.

Conor Gallagher – 5

Some neat work leading to Chelsea’s opening goal but struggled to get a grip of things from there and resulted to hard tackling and picking a fight with Gary O’Neil to make his mark in the second half.

Raheem Sterling – 3

As one of Chelsea’s few senior players, Sterling has to start offering more to his team-mates. The former Manchester City man felt no need to track back and provide assistance to Chilwell and Silva, who were being routinely punished by Neto.

Sterling showed next to nothing going forwards either, missing a golden chance shortly after half-time. The England man was booed off by the home fans when replaced by Mykhailo Mudryk.

Christopher Nkunku – 5

An early flash of pace had the Blues fans excited that their striker could well be the missing piece, but as with everyone else who has led the line in this dysfunctional Chelsea team, Nkunku faded from there. Still not fully fit so has time to get going, but there was not much here to suggest he can be the saviour.

Subs

Thiago Silva headed a late reply in vain for the Blues

Nicolas Jackson (for Caicedo, 63) – 5

It will certainly help Chelsea having the striker back from international duty, but Jackson did not start a single game at AFCON and his rustiness showed, missing a good chance at the back post.

Mykhailo Mudryk (for Sterling, 72) – 5

A few stepovers from Chelsea’s young Ukrainian but nothing more than that to really trouble the Wolves defence.

Carney Chukwuemeka (for Nkunku, 72) – 5

Poor decision making on the ball in dangerous spots as Chelsea pushed for a way back late on.

Benoit Badiashile (for Chilwell, 81) – 5

Delivered a couple of late crosses but none caused too much trouble.

Alfie Gilchrist (for Gusto, 81) – 6

Added some energy and drive from right-back but it was all too late by the time he was on.