Santos opened his account inside five minutes - and it set the tone for an impressive first-half performance Wolves had no answer to.

Gittens set up Santos and in the 15th minute he registered another assist, laying the ball on a plate for Tyrique George to convert from a couple of yards out. Shortly before the break, the high press and harrying of Santos paid off, allowing Estevao to coolly lift the ball over Jose Sa.

The momentum shifted dramatically in the second half. Wolves centre-forward Tolu Arokodare had already threatened twice when he did find the net in the 48th minute. The hosts built up a head of steam and further reduced the deficit with a quarter-hour remaining, David Moller Wolfe firing in.

Liam Delap, on his return to the side after two months out, was sent off for two bookable offences before Gittens magnificently netted his first Chelsea goal, blasting in from range to make it 4-2.

Wolfe got his second of the night in added time, but the ten men of Chelsea held on to progress to December’s quarter-finals, when we will play Cardiff City away.

Team news

There were changes to the our team in goal, defence, midfield and attack, with Josh Acheampong the only player to retain his place from Saturday.

Filip Jorgensen started in goal, and ahead of him, Malo Gusto, Tosin Adarabioyo and Jorrel Hato came into the defence. Tosin captained for the first time on the occasion of his 50th appearance.

Santos and Romeo Lavia lined up in central midfield, with Estevao, Facundo Buonanotte and Gittens joining George in attack.

Wolves made 11 changes to their team.

Super start for the Blues

In the early throes of this cup tie Chelsea looked the more comfortable handling the wholesale changes - and it took less than five minutes for us to go ahead.

Gittens seized on a loose ball to tee up Santos, who had time and space to pick his spot from the edge of the box. The Brazilian’s left-footed drive may not have been ferociously struck but it had sufficient accuracy to beat Jose Sa.

We dealt with the home side’s first attacks of note and then, to compound the home fans’ misery, doubled our lead. Once again Gittens was the creator, this time driving his way into the box before firing across goal for George to convert from a couple of yards out. It was pleasing on the eye and simple in its execution.

George almost immediately added a third when Gittens’ deflected effort looped in his direction, but the ball was just too far ahead of him to fully control. Ty’s prodded volley flashed just wide.

Estevao adds a third

The Blues – in our away kit tonight – were finding space between Wolves’ midfield and back five easy to come by, allowing Gittens on one flank and Estevao on the other to continually threaten.

Wolves were the architects of their own downfall for our third, however. Sa and Fer Lopez made a mess of passing out from the back and Santos stole in, giving Estevao a clear sight of goal. He made no mistake, delicately dinking the ball over the Wolves keeper.

Tolu headed the hosts’ best chance of the half wide, so we went into the interval with a commanding 3-0 lead.

Wolves bare their teeth

That advantage was almost reduced inside 20 seconds of the restart when Tolu’s spectacular volley whistled just past the post. We didn’t heed the warning, though, and the Nigerian reduced the arrears with a calm finish on 47 minutes.

The goal gave Wolves renewed confidence, and a period of dogged defending was required from us. Yerson Mosquera headed an inswinging free-kick wide shortly before Enzo Maresca turned to his bench. On came Marc Cucurella, Enzo Fernandez and the fit-again Delap. Gusto, Lavia and Estevao made way.

On 69 minutes, Jorgensen made a stunning save from Wolves sub Jorgen Strand Larsen, but a belated offside flag meant it wouldn’t have counted anyway.

It was already clear we now had a proper cup tie on our hands when Wolves got another. The ball was kept alive in the box and landed at the feet of Wolfe, who fired into the far corner.

Pedro Neto for George was our next sub as the Blues tried to regain a modicum of control, and Moises Caicedo was also introduced for the closing stages.

A mixed few minutes

The challenge of holding on was made harder when Delap was dismissed for a second yellow for fouling Emmanuel Agbadou. The striker's return had not gone to plan.

However, it was the 10 men of Chelsea who struck next – and what a goal it was! A bouncing ball ran into Gittens’ path and he smashed it into the net, via the inside of the post, from a good 20 yards out.

Any hope that would end the tie as a contest was extinguished within a minute as Wolfe somehow forced in his second of the night despite the best efforts of Jorgensen and several covering defenders.

We navigated a few more aerial bombardments in stoppage time, Jorgensen confidently claiming one last high cross to seal our progress after a topsy-turvy night in the Black Country.

What’s next...

A trip to Tottenham on Saturday evening. Kick-off is at 5.30pm.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Jorgensen; Gusto (Fernandez 60), Acheampong, Tosin (c), Hato; Lavia (Cucurella 60), Santos; Estevao Willian (Delap 60), Buonanotte (Caicedo 85), Gittens; George (Neto 76)
Unused subs: Sanchez, James, Fofana, Joao Pedro
Scorers: Santos 5, George 15, Estevao 41, Gittens 89
Booked: Estevao 24, George 72, Delap 79, Caicedo 90+4
Sent off: Delap 86 (second yellow)

Wolves: Sa; Doherty (R.Gomes 19), Tchatchoua, Mosquera, Toti (c), Wolfe; Agbadou, J. Gomes, Fer Lopez; Hwang (Strand Larsen 68), Arokodare (Bellegarde 81)
Unused subs: Bentley, Bueno, Munetsi, Chirewa, Mane, Krejci
Scorer: Tolu 48, Wolfe 73, 90+1
Booked: R.Gomes 31, Hwang 54

Referee Thomas Bramall
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