After being constantly booed by the home crowd for a disparaging social media post about Wolverhampton, Noni Madueke responded with a second-half hat trick to give Chelsea its first Premier League win under manager Enzo Maresca.
Madueke netted three goals in a 14-minute span — all of them assisted by Cole Palmer — to spark a 6-2 win over Wolves on Sunday that at times had the same kind of chaotic feel that envelops most things at Chelsea these days. But the emphatic second-half performance also indicated that Maresca may already be figuring out how to get the best out of the wealth of attacking talent at his disposal.
Madueke’s hat trick capped a day where he had already drawn headlines for an Instagram post that used an expletive to describe “everything about this place” after Chelsea arrived in Wolverhampton. While he later deleted the post, Wolves fans let him know they didn’t appreciate the sentiment and booed him every time they got the chance.
Turns out that may have been a bad idea.
After Chelsea gave up the lead twice in an eventful first half that was highlighted by Palmer’s improvised long-range lob for his team’s second goal, Madueke made sure there was no way back for Wolves in the second.
His goals all had a similar feel to them, with Palmer picking him out on the right side of the area and Madueke beating goalkeeper Jose Sa with a shot from an angle — the first taking a deflection before sailing inside the far post.
New signing Joao Felix then sealed the rout after sidefooting home a cross from fellow substitute Pedro Neto, the winger who joined from Wolves this month.
Madueke was apologetic to Wolverhampton residents after the game, and his opinion about the West Midlands city seemed to have improved after the hat trick.
“Obviously it was a mistake, and I’m sure that Wolverhampton is a great town,” Madueke said, adding that he won’t be posting on Instagram again any time soon.
“I’ll be giving my social media accounts to my manager, I think,” he said. “I think I’m just going to leave the social media.”
Nicolas Jackson had headed home Chelsea’s opener in just the second minute, but Matheus Cunha equalized in the 27th. Palmer then netted a highlight-reel goal with his lob from well outside the area that served as a reminder of why he was voted the league’s best young player last season, before Jorgen Strand Larsen pulled Wolves level again deep into first-half injury time.
In the other early match Sunday, Bournemouth was denied a late winner by a VAR review and had to settle for a 1-1 draw at home against Newcastle.
Dango Ouattara thought he had secured the win for Bournemouth with a header in injury time, but it was disallowed for handball.
Bournemouth had taken the lead through Marcus Tavernier in the 37th, but Anthony Gordon equalized for Newcastle in the 76th.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot was making his home debut at Anfield later Sunday against Brentford.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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