Crespo delivered the first return on the 16.5 million pounds he cost by scoring with his first touch after coming on as a substitute midway through the second half then rounded off the rout with a clinically taken second in stoppage time.

Goals from Frank Lampard, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Damien Duff had put Chelsea in control by the time Crespo came off the bench.

But it was the Argentine's goals which ensured Chelsea went above Arsenal at the top of the table, albeit only on goal difference.

The thrashing leaves Wolves in dire straits. With just one point from six games and without a goal since the opening day of the season, Dave Jones's side already appears doomed to an instant return to the first division.

Ranieri's decision to rest skipper Marcel Desailly means goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini is now the only player to have played in every Chelsea match this season.

But Ranieri will have taken heart from the spirited performances delivered by the players who have been most vocal about their frustration with the constant chopping and changing of the side, Duff, Lampard and Floyd Hasselbaink.

The Dutch striker made the opener with a deft lay-off on the edge of the area which Lampard struck sweetly beyond Michael Oakes's despairing dive.

Hasselbaink then got on the scoresheet himself. Duff was the architect, playing a 1-2 with Eidur Gudjohnsen before slipping a pass into the path of Hasselbaink, who finished with a left foot shot across Oakes.

By this stage Chelsea were on cruise control and the visitors might comfortably have been four or five goals up by the interval.

It would have been at least three had John Terry's early effort not been ruled out because his header from a Duff corner struck the hand of Gudjohnsen.

The contact was involuntary but the referee blew up for handball as Terry bundled the rebound into the net.

Chelsea's third came seven minutes after the restart with Duff sidefooting Gudjohnsen's cross home from close range.

Crespo had been on the the field for barely two minutes when Duff once more unlocked the Wolves defence with a run to the byline.

A left foot cross rifled low across the goalmouth eluded Oakes and the Argentinian was left with the simplest of finishes at the back post.

Crespo had to work harder for his second, getting in front of his marker to meet Lampard's short pass to the near post with an unstoppable first time shot across Oakes and into the far corner.