Wolverhampton Wanderers defeated Chelsea 2-1 at home in the Premier League on Christmas eve, with Mario Lemina and Matt Doherty scoring the winning goals in the second half. Following a goalless first half, Lemina headed in a Pablo Sarabia corner six minutes after the break to give Wolves the lead, and Doherty secured the win with a second goal in added time, while Christopher Nkunku scored his first goal for Chelsea.
Wolves, who have remained unbeaten at home in the league since September, moved up to 11th place with 22 points, level with 10th-placed Chelsea but trailing the London side on goal difference. Meanwhile, Chelsea have now lost four away games in a row and suffered their eighth league defeat of the season under Mauricio Pochettino’s management.
“We feel very disappointed because we deserve much more. We are not clinical enough. We created chances and had the possession,” Pochettino said. “It is a young team and many players are in the Premier League for the first time. They need to adapt. We need to learn from these games. We are in a position Chelsea should not be in.”
Chelsea’s best chance of the first half fell to Raheem Sterling, who missed a three-on-one opportunity by taking the shot himself instead of passing to his unmarked teammates. Wolves capitalized on Chelsea’s wastefulness, with Lemina scoring six minutes into the second half from a poorly marked header from Sarabia’s corner. Doherty then doubled the lead after Benoit Badiashile failed to deal with Hugo Bueno’s cross, allowing Doherty to score past Chelsea goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic.
“It’s amazing, the support we have here is fantastic. I hope we can keep pushing on and making the fans happy,” Lemina told Sky Sports after the match, expressing his gratitude for the home support. Doherty also spoke about the importance of his goal in sealing the victory and the strong support from the fans.
Despite Nkunku scoring a consolation goal for Chelsea, his first for the London club since his close-season move, they could not find an equaliser, resulting in another disappointing away defeat for the team under Pochettino’s management.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
