Crespo tops off Chelsea win

Wolves 0 Chelsea 5

Just when Wolves thought it could not get any worse, along came substitute Hernan Crespo to increase their Premiership woe.

Dave Jones’ men were already 3-0 down and heading for another home defeat when Crespo came on in the 65th minute to ruthlessly underline the colossal gulf in class.

The Argentinian hit his first Premiership goal with his first touch after being set up by Damien Duff.

And one minute from time he rounded off a highly impressive performance by blasting home from Frank Lampard to grab the fifth goal necessary for his side to go temporarily to the top of the league.

Wolves – with just a solitary point from their first five top-flight games and no goals since the opening day – knew they were up against it.

From the 17th minute when Lampard struck a superb opener the result was never in doubt.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink must have thought he had done his own Stamford Bridge future no harm at all when he became the club’s top scorer with his fifth goal of the season.

But he might have been left rueing the decision to introduce Crespo to complete the rout.

Duff’s third had continued to show the amazing strength in depth of a team changed in no fewer than seven places by boss Claudio Ranieri following the midweek win in Prague.

Adrian Mutu, Juan Sebastian Veron and Emmanuel Petit were among those sitting it out this week while all the Wolves boss could do in a bid to turn the tide was recall Henri Camara and hand Joey Gudjonsson his full debut.

Chelsea could have taken the lead as early as the third minute when Glen Johnson’s cross narrowly eluded Gudjohnsen and the impressive Frank Lampard.

Paul Butler’s intervention denied Gudjohnsen six minutes later then John Terry bundled home from a corner but was pulled up for handball.

Gudjohnsen flashed a header wide as Chelsea’s strikers stretched the Wolves defence to the maximum.

All the home side had to show from a first half of considerable toil was a dangerous-looking 13th minute free-kick which Lee Naylor banged into the visitors’ wall.

Lampard fired home his beautiful opener from the edge of the Wolves box after a fine set-up from Hasselbaink.

Gudjohnsen sprang the Wolves offside trap but shot into the side netting and Lampard missed a glorious chance to grab his second with a flick header.

The inevitable second finally arrived in the 36th minute through Hasselbaink.

The Dutchman seized his chance to slide a low first-time shot past Michael Oakes.

Wolves’ half-time respite ended abruptly with Gudjohnsen forcing a fine save out of Oakes moments after the restart.

Then Duff opened his Blues account in the simplest way imaginable when he finished off a deep Gudjohnsen cross in the 53rd minute.

Chelsea were cruising and it took Wolves all of 57 minutes to fashion a proper chance, when Gudjonsson burst down the right and let fly with a curling left-foot shot which flashed just wide.

Hasselbaink shot across the face of goal shortly before Crespo’s introduction but after the fourth Wolves enjoyed their best spell of pressure.

Substitute Colin Cameron beat the advancing Carlo Cudicini but stumbled before he could shoot home from a tight angle.

And Butler and Steffen Iversen both rattled the Chelsea bar in the 79th minute as the home side sought to at least end a non-goalscoring streak which now stretches to seven hours and 49 minutes.

Crespo rounded off the rout in fitting fashion as Chelsea looked every inch the Premiership title challengers.