Locals Christian Pulisic and Auston Trusty score their first goals of the season in England
Pulisic helped Chelsea to a 3-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in his second start of the season for Chelsea
LONDON — Christian Pulisic made the most of a rare start by scoring in a 3-0 win for Chelsea over Wolverhampton on Saturday to cap a good week for new manager Graham Potter.
The American forward was handed just his second English Premier League start this season and made it 2-0 with a delicate chip in the 49th minute at Stamford Bridge.
Kai Havertz headed home a cross from Mason Mount on the stroke of halftime after Chelsea dominated the opening 45 minutes, and Armando Broja added the third in the 89th for his first Chelsea goal.
Potter made seven changes and switched systems from Wednesday’s 3-0 Champions League win over AC Milan. Chelsea still looked fluid and overwhelmed Wolves, who are without a manager after Bruno Lage was sacked. They fell to a third straight loss.
Chelsea saw six shots and one header sail wide in the first half, and it took a top-level save from Jose Sa to thwart Pulisic’s long-range strike toward the top corner.
» READ MORE: When Christian Pulisic's mind is in a good place, his feet are too
In first-half injury time, though, Havertz popped up at the far post to head home Mount’s lofted cross.
Chelsea wasted little time to double that lead after the restart. Pulisic traded passes with Mount to skip into the box on the inside left, then deliver a deft finish to beat the advancing Sa.
Former Chelsea striker Diego Costa made his debut for Wolves and claimed the biggest reception of the day when he was substituted, taking a lap of honor as he slowly walked along the touchline toward the Wolves dugout.
Broja’s goal came when fellow substitute Mateo Kovacic threaded through to the forward, who cut back from the defensive cover before drilling into the net.
Trusty’s first goals for Birmingham City
Media’s Auston Trusty scored in the third and 43rd minutes to spark Birmingham City to a 3-0 home win over Bristol City in England’s second division. The goals were his first for Birmingham, in his 14th game with the club.
Trusty joined Birmingham on loan after Arsenal signed him from the Colorado Rapids. The Union made just over $300,000 from the Arsenal deal, as part of an agreement with Colorado when the Rapids traded for Trusty after the 2019 season.
» READ MORE: Media’s Auston Trusty moves to Birmingham City on loan from Arsenal
Also Saturday, Downingtown’s Zack Steffen made five saves but gave up two goals in Middlesbrough’s 2-0 loss at Millwall.
Inquirer staff writer Jonathan Tannenwald contributed to this report.