Wolves 3-4 Chelsea: Delap sees red as Blues overcome Carabao Cup scare to reach quarter-finals

Chelsea booked their place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals with a 4-3 win against Wolves on Wednesday night.

After a comfortable start for the Blues following two goals, courtesy of Andrey Santos and Tyrique George , in the opening 15 minutes, Enzo Maresca's side would have thought they were well on their way to victory at Molineux, especially with Estevao Willian adding a third with a delightful chip before half-time

But Wolves weren't ready to give up. They struck back from Tolu Arokodare four minutes into the second half, with David Møller Wolfe adding another in the 73rd minute to make it a nervy ending for Chelsea .

Two of Chelsea's goalscorers, Estevao and George, helping the Blues progress. | IMAGO / Every Second Media

Liam Delap was shown two yellow cards in the space of seven minutes on his return. Jamie Gittens scored a stunning goal in the 89th minute to almost seal Chelsea's spot in the quarters.

But Wolves were refusing to lay down. Møller Wolfe hit back immediately with his second to make for a nervy final six minutes of added time - but Chelsea managed to hold on for victory.

It was a quick start from Chelsea , who made 10 changes for the Carabao Cup tie, with Josh Acheampong the only player to keep his place following the Sunderland defeat.

Chelsea took the lead after just five minutes at Molineux through Andrey Santos . Tolu Arokodare lost the ball in the midfield and Jamie Gittens' touch fell into the path of Santos, who struck low from the edge of the area into the corner past Jose Sa to score his first for the club.

10 minutes later and Chelsea doubled their lead. Gittens bagged his second assist of the evening, playing a ball across the box for Tyrique George to tap into an empty net from close range.

George had a glorious chance to extend the lead four minutes later, but he was unable to guide in Gittens' deflected shot on target from inside the penalty area.

Andrey Santos celebrating his first Chelsea goal after putting the Blues ahead against Wolves. | IMAGO / Sportimage

A calamity from Wolves four minutes before half-time saw Chelsea add a third. Andrey Santos dispossessed Fer López and Estevao dinked over Sa to coolly put Maresca's side into further cruise control.

Despite Chelsea being three goals ahead, Wolves still had their chances. Arokodare had an opportunity to reduce the deficit before the interval, but he could only head wide of Filip Jorgensen's goal.

Arokodare was given another chance four minutes into the second half after Facundo Buonanotte gave the ball away cheaply, and the Wolves forward guided his effort past Jorgensen to punish the Blues to give Vitor Pereira's side a glimmer of hope.

On the hour mark, Maresca made a triple change, including bringing on Liam Delap - a welcome return for the Blues following injury. He replaced Estevao, while Marc Cucurella and Enzo Fernandez came on for Malo Gusto and Romeo Lavia.

Wolves were knocking on the door of reducing the deficit to just one. Pereira opted to bring on Strand Larsen, who was denied from close range with 20 minutes left of the tie following a fantastic save from Jorgensen - albeit it was later adjudged to be offside.

IMAGO / Every Second Media

Three minutes later and Wolves bagged another, deservedly. Another game and Chelsea failed to deal with a long throw-in. It made its way to the back post and Møller Wolfe struck past Jorgensen to make it a one-goal game.

Chelsea's frustrations were starting to appear with the tie weighing heavily in Wolves' favour as they pushed for an equaliser. Delap was booked for pushing Yerson Mosquera to the ground, a sign of the visitors' continued lack of discipline.

Four minutes from time, after not playing since August, Delap was sent off for a second yellow card following a foul on Emmanuel Agbadou, which sees him suspended for the London derby against Tottenham in the Premier League.

Gittens added to his two assists with a stunning strike in the 89th minute with a superb effort into the top right-hand corner.

Wolves were refusing to give up and hit back instantly through Møller Wolfe - his second of the tie - to put the pressure back on Chelsea heading into the closing stages.

Maresca's side were able to hang on to progress into the quarter-finals, but it was a far from straightforward night with plenty of areas of improvement to address.