Chelsea 4 (Rak-Sakyi 44, Murray-Campbell 50, McNeilly pen 63, Kavuma-McQueen 86) Wolves 0
Wolves under-21s were knocked out of the Premier League 2 play-offs following defeat against Chelsea on Saturday evening.
Sam Rak-Sakyi’s goal just before half-time gave the Blues the lead before Harrison Murray-Campbell's header and a Donnell McNeilly penalty gave Chelsea a three-goal cushion. Late on, Ryan Kavuma-McQueen's finish made it four to guide the hosts into the quarter-final.
Wolves had to be patient in the opening stages of the fixture as they were limited with the amount of possession due to the hosts controlling the tempo and moving the ball across swiftly.
The visitors were challenged to defend their box as a pack, with Bastien Meupiyou and Alfie Pond proving to be standouts in the backline as Chelsea continued to knock on the door and ask questions of the Wolves defence.
Midway throughout the first half, James Collins’ side began to grow into their own and found joy often on the right-hand side where Wes Okoduwa was consistently excelling his marker to advance forward, but the Old Gold failed to create any clear-cut chances.
Moments later, Josh Gracey pulled off a fantastic save to deny Brodi Hughes of an opener.
Gracey then denied McNeilly from close-range and Ishe Samuel Smith narrowly headed wide of the target.
However, Gracey’s heroics were undone after a heap of attacking pressure, as Rak-Sakyi slotted the ball into the bottom corner to give Chelsea the lead.
Half-time | Chelsea 1-0 Wolves
After the restart, Murray-Campbell's header doubled Chelsea’s advantage in the fixture.
Wolves did create some chances of their own with several crosses being zipped into the box as Dani Angel searched for a route to reduce the deficit.
However, McNeilly added a third for the Blues when he converted a penalty from 12 yards to create an uphill battle for the visitors.
Ted Curd produced a remarkable stop to deny Myles Dayman from close range in the final moments of the fixture as Wolves continued to probe the Chelsea defence despite the scoreline.
However, Kavuma-McQueen tapped the ball into an unguarded net in the closing stages to wrap up the game for the Blues as Wolves’ Premier League 2 campaign came to a close.
Full-time | Chelsea 4-0 Wolves
LINEUPS
Chelsea | Curd, Hughes, Murray-Campbell, Emenalo, Samuels-Smith, McMahon, Antwi (Olise 68), Rak-Sakyi, McNeilly (Kavuma-McQueen 77), Dyer, Maeuka (Stutter 68).
Unused subs | Austin, Ampah.
Wolves | Gracey, Dayman, Voice, Hubner, Meupiyou (Mabete 84), Bradbury, Okoduwa, Rawlings, Angel (Mane 61), Edozie (Whittingham 61), Lopes (Reynolds 84).
Unused subs | Keto-Diyawa.
Report by Thomas Gibson
