Chelsea beaten by last-gasp Wolves winner
Chelsea missed the chance to go joint top of the Premier League again as they fell to a last-gasp defeat.
The game appeared to be heading for a frustrating draw, after Oliver Giroud had put the Blues ahead after half-time, until Pedro Neto drilled a finish across Edouard Mendy in the fifth minute of stoppage-time after a quick Wolves counter-attack.
Frank Lampard made just one change from Saturday’s defeat at Everton as Christian Pulisic replaced Mateo Kovacic for only his third Premier League start of the season, and the American was a class apart out on the left in a staccato first half, injecting much-needed pace and purpose in a match lacking tempo and urgency.
With Timo Werner and Kai Havertz rarely in the game, Chelsea’s best chances before half-time came from Mason Mount corners, with Giroud heading over when well-placed before Kurt Zouma powered a header against the bar, Giroud unable to turn in the rebound.
The Blues’ response to their half-time reboot was instant, Werner sending Ben Chilwell away to the byline before cutting the ball back to the edge of the six-yard box. Giroud’s powerful snapshot was half-stopped by Wolves keeper Rui Patricio, but crept over the line.
Wolves had the ball in the net soon after as the hosts responded well, but Fabio Silva had run offside before slamming a finish past Edouard Mendy.
But Wolves were level just after the hour when Chelsea failed to clear a corner and Daniel Podence wrong-footed Chilwell before unleashing a shot which took a deflection off Reece James and past Edouard Mendy’s right hand.
The visitors could feel aggrieved for the equaliser with the initial corner wrongly-awarded when Thiago Silva’s block rebounded out off Willy Boly – and only VAR averted a second moment of injustice, spotting Pedro Neto’s dive which had originally fooled referee Stuart Attwell into awarding a late penalty.
Chelsea: Mendy, James, Silva, Zouma, Chilwell, Kante, Mount, Havertz (Kovacic 71), Werner, Pulisic, Giroud (Abraham 71).
Subs not used: Kepa, Rudiger, Jorginho, Gilmour, Azpilicueta.
