Wolves defeat wasteful Chelsea 2-1 on Christmas eve
Chelsea have now lost four away games in a row as Mauricio Pochettino’s side fell to its eighth league defeat of the season.
Mario Lemina celebrates after scoring Wolves’ opening goal
LONDON: Wolverhampton Wanderers continued its stellar home form to heap misery on Chelsea on Christmas eve with a 2-1 win in the Premier League on Sunday, thanks to second-half strikes from Mario Lemina and Matt Doherty.
After a goalless first half, Lemina headed in a Pablo Sarabia corner six minutes after halftime to give Wolves the lead before Doherty secured the win with a second goal in added time while Christopher Nkunku scored his first goal for Chelsea.
Wolves, who are unbeaten at home in the league since September, moved up to 11th with 22 points, level with 10th-placed Chelsea but trailing the London side on goal difference.
Chelsea have now lost four away games in a row as Mauricio Pochettino’s side fell to its eighth league defeat of the season.
“We feel very disappointed because we deserve much more. We are not clinical enough. We created chances and had possession,” Pochettino said. Chelsea’s best chance of the first half fell to Raheem Sterling who stole the ball from last man Joao Gomes and sprinted into the Wolves box with only the keeper Jose Sa to beat, sterling went for the finish himself despite having two teammates including Cole Palmer unmarked to his right. The shot was blocked by Sa, laying waste to the three-on-one opportunity.
Chelsea paid for its wastefulness six minutes after halftime when Lemina was left poorly marked and his header from Pablo Sarabia’s corner sailed into the net. Wolves doubled its lead when Benoit Badiashile failed to deal with Hugo Bueno’s cross and an unmarked Matt Doherty guided his shot past Chelsea keeper Djordje Petrovic.
“(The second goal was) very important because they nicked a goal at the end. I tend to have a knack over my career of being in the right place at the right time and I slotted it away,” Doherty said.
Christopher Nkunku netted a consolation goal for Chelsea, his first for the London club since his close-season move, but they could not find an equaliser.
Arsenal leads the table, closely followed by Liverpool
Arsenal stayed on top of the English Premier League after holding on to draw Liverpool 1-1 at Anfield on Saturday.
Arsenal led through Gabriel’s fourth-minute header but Mohamed Salah evened the score in the 29th. Salah’s 151st Premier League goal moved him to 10th on the all-time list. Liverpool pressed hardest in the second half and hit the woodwork twice. Mikel Arteta’s team will go into Christmas a point ahead of Liverpool.
Another title challenger, Aston Villa, also dropped points with a surprise 1-1 draw against Sheffield United on Friday. Villa was third on goal difference.
Liverpool has drawn back-to-back games in the league against Manchester United and Arsenal.
Jurgen Klopp’s team had the better chances to win on Saturday; Trent Alexander-Arnold hit the bar in the second half with only Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya to beat. Substitute Harvey Elliott also hit the post with a deflected shot from outside the box.
The London side was ahead first again after a flying start that appeared to catch Liverpool cold.
Liverpool prevented further damage and evened the score through a brilliant goal from Salah. Liverpool thought it should have had a penalty before that when Odegaard appeared to handle inside the box, but the Arsenal captain escaped punishment.
