Noni Madueke hit a second-half hat-trick as Chelsea secured their first Premier League victory of the season in an electric affair at Molineux.
The Blues took the lead within the first two minutes of the game as Nicolas Jackson scored by heading in the ball at the back post from a corner taken by Cole Palmer, which was then inadvertently flicked on by Matheus Cunha. This was the fastest goal of the season so far.
The Senegalese forward joyfully celebrated in front of the away fans, which led to a confrontation between the Chelsea and Wolves players.
The home side seemed energized after conceding the opening goal, dominating the next 15 minutes with multiple opportunities, including a disallowed goal for Cunha, which signaled a shift in momentum.
Rayan Ait Nouri embarked on a skillful run, effortlessly weaving through Chelsea's highly-priced midfield, before locating Cunha who hammered it home. The Brazilian then had another altercation with Jackson while celebrating his goal.
As Wolves grew into the game, it was Chelsea who retook the lead through Palmer. Quick thinking from goalkeeper Robert Sanchez found Jackson and Palmer, who scored a cushioned lob from around 30 yards over the helpless Jose Sa in the Wolves' goal.
Just before halftime, Wolves equalized again. A free-kick was lofted into the box, Toti headed across for Jorgen Strand Larsen to score his first goal for the club by poking home.
A way forward for the Blues
The Wolves' dominant first-half performance was overshadowed by winger Madueke's incredible 14-minute hat-trick, all of which were assisted by his England teammate Palmer.
Chelsea demonstrated their depth with Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto, and Joao Felix all coming on during the second half.
During the game, two Portuguese internationals from Chelsea combined to score the team's sixth goal. Neto passed the ball back to Felix, who then smashed it into the top corner. This goal marked Felix's first since he returned to the club on a permanent deal.
The light touch paper was ignited in the early hours of Sunday morning when Madueke made a comment about the Wolverhampton area on his social media.
However, the England under-21 international quickly apologised after the game saying:
"I just want to apologise to everyone that I might have offended. It is just a human mistake, an accident. It wasn't meant to be out on my socials like that. I'm sure Wolverhampton is a nice town and I'm sorry.
"It was a mistake and you learn from those things. Hopefully nothing like that happens again.
"In terms of the boos, I expected it but it is part of the game. You have to be able to play under that sort of pressure."
It's unlikely that his hat-trick will have helped change the views of Wolves fans towards him after the game.
Maresca avoids becoming the first manager at Stamford Bridge to lose the opening two league games of the season for 50 years, while Wolves' run of Premier League defeats stretches to five.
Gary O'Neil said after the game to the BBC that if you make mistakes against a top side like Chelsea, you will be punished:
"We lost our way. They were unacceptable [errors] from us.
"I am all for positivity and when the lads do well they know they have done well, but from all of us as a group to concede those three [second-half] goals as we do is unacceptable.
"If you give goals away like we did it was going to be a tough afternoon. We gave Chelsea a lot of help so there is an awful lot I need to fix."
