Chelsea 2-0 Wolves

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Chelsea 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou found the net as Chelsea strolled past Wolves to open up a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

With their title rivals not playing until Sunday - with Manchester City hosting Arsenal in a table-topping humdinger and Manchester United facing Stoke at the Britannia - the Blues were able to apply the pressure with a relatively comfortable victory against Mick McCarthy's spirited Wolves side, though the Blues were made to work for the three points. The visitors were left to woe wayward finishing as substitute Salomon Kalou came off the bench to fire home the second goal for the West London outfit, as Chelsea continued their impressive start to the season.

Carlo Ancelotti's charges were not at their best - at times they thrilled the Stamford Bridge crowd with incisive passing and electric movement, whilst at others they were lackadaisical - and Wolves will curse a number of missed opportunities after a battling performance. Truthfully, Chelsea's perfect home record was never really threatened, though McCarthy will feel vindicated in his stubborn support of his players following criticism of their allegedly over-physical approach play as the visitors were equal to the Blues for periods and maintained good possession throughout.

The difference in class was best shown by the two goals, with Chelsea racing through the gears to cut their opponents to shreds with ease. Two emphatic moves, both culminating with controlled finishes led to another win for the Chelsea machine - they may not be at their best and Wolves might have given them more of a game than many had predicted, but the Blues had done enough to preserve their strong start to the campaign.

Perhaps the greatest satisfaction for Ancelotti will be the performance of the returning José Bosingwa, whose first game in more than twelve months saw the Portuguese put in a trademark performance down the Chelsea right. Ancelotti was full of praise for Bosingwa, calling him 'an important player' and an 'exciting performer.'

And it was Bosingwa who had the first clear-cut opportunity of the match after superb work from Didier Drogba and Moscow goal hero Yuri Zhirkov to tee-up the marauding Portuguese full-back. Marcus Hahnemann was called into action to make an inspired save as the dream comeback for Bosingwa looked on. Drogba then drilled one just past the post and a smooth Chelsea breakaway saw Ashley Cole fire just wide of the target.

But it didn't go all Chelsea's way - Wolves had forced a number of early corners and were threatening Petr Cech's goal with a number of deliveries from deep. Cech was called into action to save a header from David Edwards before doing well to deny Jelle van Damme.

The chances for the visitors brought about a new spark of life within Ancelotti's side, and on twenty three minutes they struck with a simply brilliant move. It started with a Nicolas Anelka break down the left, before the Frenchman played in Zhirkov. The Russian barely broke stride as he perfectly teed up Florent Malouda who finished with aplomb for his seventh goal of the season; Chelsea's number 15 again proving to be the dead-eye in front of goal.

The strike was enough to at least momentarily settle down the Blues; Wolves' promising start had perhaps surprised a few of the paying patrons and possibly even the Chelsea eleven themselves. Malouda's goal had given them confidence, and the game was in danger of quickly getting away from the visitors as Anelka found the side-netting after another stunning counter-attack.

Ancelotti's side were playing a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with the Midlanders; inviting pressure before hoping to score on the counter. Bosingwa was again in the thick of the goalmouth action as he saw a shot go wide, before Drogba saw an effort blocked after he was hacked down cynically by Richard Stearman. A tight first half was finally blossoming into a fruitful Chelsea performance come the interval.

The second half saw Wolves attack with renewed vigour; substitute Stephen Hunt troubling Cech (this time in a footballing sense, rather than life-threatening) with a diving header that Michael Essien hacked off the line. Cech's fine form between the posts was again tested when Kevin Doyle produced a superb flying save out of the Czech footballer of the year.

Chelsea were looking tired following their midweek European exploits, whilst Wolves were enjoying some possession in the Blues' half. Chelsea could be criticised for defending a little too deep but John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic were limiting the visitors to chances from distance thanks to imperious performances at the back. Nenad Milijas peppered Cech's goal with a brace of shots whilst Wolves' set-piece prowess was again demonstrated but Doyle found Cech hard to beat once more.

Essien then bent an effort wide of the target and Drogba dallied over a chance, enabling Hahnemann to save his defence's blushes with some alert goalkeeping, whilst Drogba again wasted another opportunity from a free-kick; merely warming the palms of the Wolves' goalkeeper.

Knowing his side were in desperate need of inspiration, Ancelotti introduced Salomon Kalou and took off the labouring Malouda, whilst Paulo Ferreira replaced man-of-the-match Bosingwa, who received a standing ovation. The substitutions paid off instantly as Kalou fired home under Hahnemann from 14 yards; Kalou passed to Drogba who combined with Essien to set the young Ivorian through, allowing the Chelsea forward to net his sixth of the season and secure victory for Chelsea - without having played well.

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Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa (Ferreira 78), Ivanovic, Terry ©, Cole; Essien, Mikel, Zhirkov (McEachran 81); Anelka, Drogba, Malouda (Kalou 71)

Wolverhampton Wanderers (4-5-1): Hahnemann; Foley, Stearman, Berra ©, Ward; Jarvis (Fletcher 86), Edwards, Milijas, Jones, Van Damme (Hunt 46); Doyle (Ebanks-Blake 86)

The TalkChelsea.net Man of the Match was Chelsea's number 17, José Bosingwa