Chelsea match-winner Noni Madueke might have changed his view of Wolverhampton after scoring three times in his team’s 6-2 hammering of Wolves. The winger hit the headlines in the build up to the match for posting – and then deleting – comments critical of the city of Wolverhampton. Having plundered Molineux for his first senior hat-trick, he apologised for his comments.
Noni Madueke said “I just want to say I am sorry. I didn’t mean to offend anybody from Wolverhampton or anyone in general. It was a mistake and you learn from those things. Hopefully nothing like that happens again, that was my first senior hat-trick. I’ve had a few braces in my career but never a hat-trick so I am delighted with that and to win the game. We always come into every game confident, and we try to take the initiative. We started the game really well then let them back into it midway through the first half, through our own sloppiness but credit to the boys for the way we came out in the second half. There was frustration that the goals we gave away were cheap – I gave a foul away on the edge of the box which I probably shouldn’t have given away but that’s football. We regrouped and gave a great performance in the second half especially. I feel that this is the manager’s style of play, it’s clear, and our team is full of talent so we are trying to execute it as best we can and I think it’s coming on leaps and bounds. Long may it continue.”
Wolves boss Gary O’Neil said: ” [In the second half] we gave them three goals from nothing really. We gave them one in the first half too, their second from our own goal kick. The free kick where we don’t get back under the ball…Crazy ways to concede goals. Then the fourth and the fifth where we have people out of position. We lost our way. It was already a crazy first half, we showed moments of quality but regardless of what you do with the ball and in shape, 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.”
