New manager, same result after Chelsea are beaten at Wolves on Lampard return
2 min read
Frank Lampard’s return to Chelsea ended in disaster as the Blues fell to a 1-0 defeat to Wolves at Molineux on Saturday.
The interim boss had vowed to give his squad a fresh start but there was nothing new about Chelsea, whose lacklustre performance was punished by an outstanding first-half strike from Matheus Nunes – a moment of magic in an otherwise underwhelming affair.
Chelsea had most of the possession in the early stages but rarely looked like making a breakthrough in an opening 20 minutes that was both entertaining and completely devoid of incident, but Wolves eventually settled and began to take control of things.
Mario Lemina’s low drive from outside the box was the first real scare for either side but the first moment of real quality came from Nunes, whose glorious half-volley went soaring across the box and into Kepa’s top corner shortly after the half-hour mark.
Former Blue Diego Costa then had an effort saved as Wolves continued to stamp their authority on proceedings, with Chelsea’s best opportunity of the first half coming late on as Joao Felix’s strike from range was sent directly towards Jose Sa.
The second half began with more energy from Chelsea but the Blues’ gung-ho mindset led to two glorious counter-attacks from Wolves, who should have added to their lead but made the wrong decision on both occasions.
What followed was a performance which would not have looked out of place in the Graham Potter era. Chelsea never looked like breaking down Wolves, who embraced the pressure and consistently cleared their lines.
There was a late call for a penalty as Christian Pulisic went to ground trying to finish off a nice Chelsea move, but the referee was not interested and the VAR declined to intervene.
