Chelsea sunk into the bottom half of the Premier League table after being comprehensively outplayed by Wolves in a 4-2 defeat at Stamford Bridge.

Cole Palmer had fired Chelsea into an early lead before Matheus Cunha's deflected effort dragged the visitors level only minutes later. That suckerpunch left the Blues reeling and it was little surprise to see Wolves ahead before the break through Axel Disasi's own goal.

Cunha scored twice in the second half to notch a deserved hat-trick on a miserable day for the hosts, who cut the deficit through a Thiago Silva consolation.

That Chelsea went ahead so early was in keeping with not only their fine home form, entering this game on a ten-match unbeaten run at the Bridge, but also the fast start made by both teams.

Wolves' high press forced errors from the home team as both Pedro Neto and Cunha tested Djordje Petrovic before Christopher Nkunku was denied one-on-one inside the first five minutes.

A slick left-to-right move created the opening goal as Moises Caicedo played Palmer into the box, and the 21-year-old finished low into the far corner for his 12th Chelsea goal of the season.

Just over two minutes later, Wolves levelled when Joao Gomes stole the ball off Caicedo and Cunha's shot cannoned in off Silva.

The Blues provided little in the way of a response as they continued to make errors in possession and it was a swift Wolves attack that put them ahead just before the break, Neto crossed for Rayan Ait-Nouri to strike goalwards on his 100th appearance for the club and it went in via a deflection off Disasi.

Chelsea allowed Neto to shoot at goal moments after the restart but were quickly on the front foot themselves, Palmer and Ben Chilwell combining to tee up Raheem Sterling in the box, but he dragged his shot wide.

As so often has been the case with Chelsea of late, errors were comprehensively punished as the immense Neto stormed down the right flank to leave Silva in his dust and tee up Cunha for 3-1 on 63 minutes.

Nicolas Jackson had entered the game off the bench only moments beforehand and he soon missed a chance to cut into their deficit, heading a glorious chance wide at the back post from a fine Malo Gusto cross.

A first win away to Chelsea since 1979 was then sealed by Cunha, who grabbed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after being fouled by Gusto.

Silva's late header in response failed to prevent the Blues from dropping to 11th in the table, as Wolves edged above them to go within four points of the European places.