Chelsea were left frustrated by Wolves on Saturday afternoon as they suffered a 1-0 Premier League defeat at Molineux.
A quiet first half saw little created by way of chances, but the game was sparked into life in the 31st minute when Wolves midfielder Matheus Nunes struck a volley across the goal perfectly to leave Kepa Arrizabalaga with no chance to make the save.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)
Frank Lampard’s side looked reinvigorated after the restart with more intensity in their attacking play, and they showed signs that the pendulum was beginning to swing momentum back into their favour. Raheem Sterling and Conor Gallagher linked up well after the hour mark with a chance that eventually fell to the midfielder, only for his effort to be blocked.
Chelsea’s next chance didn’t come until late on when Reece James cut back for substitute Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, but Craig Dawson anticipated the play well to intervene while soft claims for a penalty after Christian Pulisic went down were dismissed by the referee.
Ben Chilwell‘s skied effort in the 90th minute summed up the day for the Blues, who were blunt in attack overall.
Positives
A strong performance from Kalidou Koulibaly saw him anticipate play well in the back four, while Enzo Fernandez and James also looked to benefit from the system.
Negatives
Chelsea simply didn’t do enough to trouble the goalkeeper at Molineux despite having some promising spells with their build up. Much of that was down to a strong defensive performance from the home side.
Manager rating out of 10
5 — The return of Frank Lampard as interim manager saw him deploy a 4-3-3 at Molineux. After a sluggish second half, there was a clear improvement in performance after the break, with Lampard also decisive with his substitutions, but there is work to be done as he looks to guide his side through to the end of the season.
