Chris Wood hat-trick leads Burnley rout of Wolves

The visitors opened the scoring at Molineux in the 15th minute when Wolves defender Willy Boly misjudged a long ball, allowing Wood to control it before scoring with a powerful finish into the bottom left corner.

Striker Chris Wood scored a first-half hat-trick as Burnley cruised to a 4-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday and eased their Premier League relegation fears.

Burnley's Chris Wood, left, celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Wolves and Burnley. (AP)

The visitors opened the scoring at Molineux in the 15th minute when Wolves defender Willy Boly misjudged a long ball, allowing Wood to control it before scoring with a powerful finish into the bottom left corner.

Wood doubled Burnley's lead six minutes later with a simple tap-in after a driving run by winger Dwight McNeil to carve open the Wolves defence.

The duo combined again just before halftime as Wood completed his first Premier League hat-trick with a header from a floated McNeil corner.

Ashley Westwood added gloss to the scoreline with an 85th- minute strike from 15 metres after being set up by Wood as Burnley collected their first win in four league games.

Burnley climbed to 14th in the table on 36 points and are nine points clear of the relegation zone. Wolves remained 12th.