Chelsea fans in the lower tier of the Steve Bull Stand applauded the substitution of leading striker Nicolas Jackson with 10 minutes left in normal time as Mauricio Pochettino’s side suffered a fourth consecutive away defeat in the Premier League. But their problems lie much deeper than the Senegalese striker’s profligacy as they were undone by a Wolves team that showed what team unity looks like.
Goals from Mario Lemina and Matt Doherty, Wolves’ match-winner against Tottenham, allowed Gary O’Neil’s side to extend their home unbeaten run to seven matches and move level on points with the London club.
Relating to: Wolves 2-1 Chelsea: Premier League – live reaction
Chelsea have missed 36 of their 57 big chances in the Premier League this season, more than any other team; But Raheem Sterling was as guilty as anyone in Chelsea’s dark blue team; Their third jersey had not enjoyed a memorable first public outing. It was the 19th time they have lost in the league this calendar year, more than any other top-flight club.
Adding to Chelsea’s woes, Sterling and Cole Palmer received their fifth yellow cards this season and will be suspended for their home game against Crystal Palace on Wednesday. The lack of discipline within their own ranks (Chelsea were booked more than anyone else in the league) spilled over to the bench, and with Mauricio Pochettino also receiving a caution, Wolves deserved victory as the visitors dominated possession and despite first-half chances.
“I’m really proud of the group,” O’Neil said. “It’s a small team, but they really come together.”
Jackson, who has scored seven goals in his first 14 league games since joining from Villarreal for £35 million in July, appeared to take his eye off the ball when he played Sterling in what would have been an easy finish to the first quarter of the season. hour. Pochettino defended the 22-year-old player.
“It’s always about expectation, how you manage expectation and set expectation,” the Chelsea manager said. “If we compare Jackson with different forwards of his age who have come to a new league, when you look at his performances, he scores goals.
“This has nothing to do with blaming him. I think you can accept the fans’ disappointment: when we don’t score, it’s about the attackers. But… my advice is to blame them all because football is a team sport, a collective sport, we can’t blame just one. But in this case he is young, “The expectation is huge in the Premier League and we are Chelsea. There is pressure at Chelsea to play and deliver the best job possible.”
The game started as if it were the end of the match, in keeping with much of the action this festive period. It was so crazy, so crazy, and it stayed the same way from start to finish. Sterling had enough chances to break the game in the first half.
They were relieved to still be in the game at the start of the second half when Wolves took the lead through Lemina’s header. But Chelsea’s profligacy in front of goal appears to be emblematic of their general malaise as they stray from positivity as they reach the last four of the Carabao Cup, with a run of just two regular-time wins in eight matches.
Sterling was as sharp as anyone on the field in the first period, but the game’s biggest miss came when the winger dispossessed João Gomes, went limp as he received José Sá’s pass in his own half, and then raced halfway down the field to enter the game. aim. It was fair enough that he avoided the option of passing to Palmer or Jackson to his right as long as he scored. Instead he shot at the ideal height for a goalkeeper and Sá was able to save.
Disputing amongst themselves at this stage, Wolves finished the half strongly; Hwang Hee-chan ran up to Pablo Sarabia’s magnificent pass from the inside right channel and shot right at him.
Although Wolves were lucky not to fall behind after falling behind in the opening half hour, they know how to come on strong at Molineux. There they beat Manchester City as well as Spurs and Chelsea, drew with Aston Villa and Newcastle, and scored at least one goal in 16 consecutive top-flight matches for the first time since March 1970.
Their tails were up. Toti’s header was superbly saved by Djordje Petrovic, before Lemina got in front of would-be goalkeeper Lesley Ugochukwu and glanced a header into the far corner of the goal from Sarabia’s swinging corner.
Chelsea’s sense of frustration increased as three players were booked for dissent within six minutes. Sterling was later booked for diving, bringing the tally to 27 for the season, including three for rams.
Wolves managed to score a goal in a third of the 11 minutes of stoppage time allocated to them. Hugo Bueno’s cross from the left was met with a horribly undercooked attack from Benoît Badiashile, and Doherty scored his first Premier League goal since returning to Wolves in the summer.
There was time for Christopher Nkunku to make his Premier League debut as a substitute with a goal to head in Sterling’s cross, but Chelsea went down once again.