Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Northern Irish defender #02 Matt Doherty (R) celebrates with Wolverhampton Wanderers’ English midfielder #20 Thomas Doyle after scoring his team second goal in the course of the English Premier League football match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea on the Molineux stadium in Wolverhampton, central England on December 24, 2023. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP)
Wolves condemned Chelsea to a fourth defeat in six league matches on Sunday, winning 2-1 in the primary Christmas Eve Premier League match since 1995.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men dominated possession at Molineux but wasted probabilities in an incident-packed game suffering from careless defensive errors by the visiting side.
Wolves seemed to be cantering to victory after goals from Mario Lemina and Matt Doherty but they were made to sweat when Christopher Nkunku pulled one back deep into stoppage time on his Premier League debut.
The defeat means Chelsea is stuck in tenth within the Premier League, with Wolves behind them only on goal difference.
No side has lost more Premier League matches in 2023 than Chelsea’s tally of 19, while only three sides have lost more across the massive five European leagues in the course of the calendar 12 months.
Pochettino bemoaned his team’s missed probabilities after a frustrating afternoon.
“We feel very upset because I believe we deserve way more,” the Argentine told Sky Sports. “This competition wounds you when you’re not clinical enough.
“We created probabilities. That’s the reason it’s so disappointing. We conceded after a number of corners and it was really difficult.”
He added: “We were talking loads firstly of the season. We’re young in age. It’s a young team. Now we have players playing for the primary time within the league. They should adapt. It’s confidence and about quality.”
Missed probabilities
There have been probabilities at each ends early in the sport.
Nelson Samedo burst forward but couldn’t find Matheus Cunha on the left before Armando Broja chanced on the ball within the box at the opposite end when well placed.
Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson was also guilty of failing to benefit from some good openings.
The visitors wasted a gilt-edged opportunity to take the lead shortly after the half-hour mark when Raheem Sterling caught Joao Gomes in possession 40 yards out and drove forward.
The England forward was one-on-one with Jose Sa, with two team-mates to his right, but he opted to shoot fairly than pass and it was saved by the Wolves goalkeeper.
Wolves had a probability to interrupt the deadlock within the closing moments of the half when Hwang Hee-chan burst through but he blasted over from an angle.
The house side began the second half brightly and got here inside a whisker of taking the lead when Chelsea’s Lesley Ugochukwu deflected Gomes’s shot onto the surface of the post.
But Wolves broke the deadlock within the 51st minute when Lemina didn’t even must get off the bottom to go home a Pablo Sarabia corner.
Substitute Nkunku got here near equalizing when his shot was hacked off the road by Toti.
As a substitute, Wolves doubled their lead in stoppage time.
Substitute Hugo Bueno crossed and Chelsea were only in a position to block the ball so far as the waiting Doherty, who finished calmly from close range within the 93rd minute.
France international Nkunku pulled one back when he headed home three minutes later but Gary O’Neil’s side held on to take all three points.
Goalscorer Doherty praised the fans for making a crackling atmosphere.
“Our record against top-six teams is sweet,” he said. “We’ve beaten most of them here and away. We’re doing rather well.”
