Chelsea fans in the lower tier of the Steve Bull Stand jeered when Nicolas Jackson, their leading goalscorer, was substituted with 10 minutes of regulation time left to pay as Mauricio Pochettino’s side fell to their fourth consecutive away defeat in the Premier League. But their problems lie much deeper than the Senegal forward’s profligacy as they were undone by a Wolves squad who showed what team unity looks like.
Goals from Mario Lemina, Wolves’ match-winner against Tottenham, and Matt Doherty enabled Gary O’Neil’s side to extend their unbeaten home run to seven games and draw level on points with the London club.
Chelsea have missed 36 of their 57 big chances in the Premier League this season, more than any other side, although Raheem Sterling was as guilty as anyone in Chelsea’s very dark blue – their third kit did not enjoy a memorable first public outing – as they lost for the 19th time in the league this calendar year, more than any other top-flight club.
To add to Chelsea’s woes, Sterling and Cole Palmer collected their fifth yellow cards of the season and will be suspended for the home game against Crystal Palace on Wednesday. The lack of discipline within their ranks – Chelsea have accrued more bookings than anyone else in the division – spread to the dugout as Mauricio Pochettino was also cautioned but, while the visitors dominated possession and first-half chances, Wolves deserved their victory.
“I’m really proud of the group,” O’Neil said. “It’s a small squad but they’re really together.”
Jackson, with seven goals from his first 14 league outings since signing from Villarreal for £35m in July, appeared to take his eye off the ball when he was played in by Sterling for what would have been an easy finish in the opening quarter of an hour. Pochettino defended the 22-year-old.
“It is always about expectation, how you manage expectation and set the expectation,” the Chelsea manager said. “If we compare Jackson to different strikers that arrive at his age to a new league, he is scoring goals when you look at his performances.
“It is not about blaming him. I think you can accept the frustration from the fans: when we don’t score, it is about the offensive players. But … my advice is to blame them all together because football is a team sport, a collective sport, we cannot blame only one. But in this case, he is young, in the Premier League, the expectation is massive and we are Chelsea. At Chelsea, there is pressure to play and deliver the best job possible.”
The game, in keeping with much of this festive period’s action, started as if it was the end of the match. It was so frantic, so frenetic, and it carried on in the same vein throughout. Sterling had enough chances on his own in the first half to have put the game to bed.
When Wolves went ahead through Lemina’s header early in the second half, they were relieved to still be in the game. Yet Chelsea’s wastefulness in front of goal seems emblematic of their general malaise, as they veer from the shoots of positivity in reaching the last four of the Carabao Cup to a run of just two wins in regulation time in eight games.
Sterling was as sharp as anyone on the field in the first period but the biggest miss of the match came when the winger dispossessed João Gomes, lax when receiving José Sá’s pass just inside his own half, then ran half of the pitch to get in on goal. It was fair enough that he eschewed the option of passing to Palmer or Jackson to his right – as long as he scored. Instead he shot at a height ideal for a goalkeeper and Sá was able to save.
Wolves, remonstrating among themselves at this stage, finished the half strongly, Hwang Hee-chan running on to Pablo Sarabia’s superb pass down the inside-right channel and blasting his shot just over.
Although Wolves were fortunate not to be behind after being outplayed for the opening half-hour, they know how to come on strong at Molineux. Here they have beaten Manchester City as well as Spurs and Chelsea, drawn with Aston Villa and Newcastle, and scored at least once 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 Lesley Ugochukwu, his purported marker, and glanced a header into the far corner of the goal from Sarabia’s inswinging corner.
Chelsea’s sense of frustration mounted as they had three players booked for dissent within six minutes. Sterling was later booked for diving, taking the tally to 27 for the season, including three for the coaches.
Wolves broke to score in the third of the allocated 11 minutes of stoppage time. Hugo Bueno’s cross from the left wing was met with a horribly undercooked clearance from Benoît Badiashile and there was Doherty to fire home his first Premier League goal since returning to Wolves in the summer.
There was time for Christopher Nkunku, on as a substitute, to mark his Premier League debut with a goal as he headed in Sterling’s cross, but Chelsea went down yet again.
