Chelsea breathed a huge sigh of relief when the final whistle sounded at Molineux in the Carabao Cup fourth round on Wednesday night, having just about seen off Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The visiting Blues, wearing all-white, raced into a 3–0 lead by half-time in the west midlands, thanks to strikes from Andrey Santos, Tyrique George and the again-impressive Estêvão.
But Wolves pulled two back through Tolu Arokodare and David Møller Wolfe to put enormous pressure on Enzo Maresca’s side. Jamie Gittens then restored a two-goal cushion late on, before Møller Wolfe’s second of the night made it a nervy finish.
It was another night of mass changes for Maresca, as had been the case last week in the Champions League against Ajax. Only Josh Acheampong kept his place from the surprise weekend defeat at the hands of Sunderland, with the boss looking to preserve freshness in the squad.
The game marked Liam Delap’s return from a lengthy injury absence since shortly after joining Chelsea, only for it to end in a red card for the overzealous striker.
