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Wolverhampton Wanderers came back from behind to inflict a second consecutive defeat on Chelsea in the Premier League, as Pedro Neto's injury-time goal helped the hosts secure a dramatic 2-1 win at Molineux.
The in-form Olivier Giroud opened the scoring in the fixture, as he found the back of the net in the 49th minute with a left-footed volley from Ben Chilwell's cross. But the hosts were back in the game in the 66th minute, thanks to a wonderful solo goal by Daniel Podence.
Just when everyone thought the teams would end up sharing the spoils in the midweek fixture, Neto broke Chelsea fans' hearts by scoring an injury-time winner. The player latched onto a ball from Vítor Ferreira, caught Chelsea on the counter with his blistering pace and finished off the move with a rocket finish.
For the first 45 minutes, it was clear that the visitors were the better side. But despite all their possession and attacking threat, they couldn't register a shot on target until the 45th minute, when Kurt Zouma's perfectly timed header ricocheted off the crossbar from a corner.
Wolves' dogged defending meant they avoided conceding in the first half yet again in the Premier League. Surprisingly, they had more goal attempts and even had a couple of shots on target.
The second half was when the game came to life and three goals were scored. Here, we take a look at the five major talking points from the game, which saw Chelsea suffer their second consecutive defeat in the Premier League.
#5 Nuno Espírito Santo reverts to a five-man defence to keep Chelsea's attackers in check
Wolves were in search of back-to-back clean sheets, and started the game with the intent of not letting Chelsea attackers make anything happen from open play. Though they managed to keep the game goalless in the first half, they lost the clean sheet soon after the restart.
The Blues couldn't record a single shot on target in the first half, and two of their best chances before the break came from corners. Much of the credit goes to Nuno for utilising a flexible 3-4-1-2 formation, which reverted to 5-3-2 at times. It kept creative players like Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner and Mason Mount in check.
Frank Lampard, having observed the tactic in the first 45 minutes, came out with a plan in the second half. He saw his side go ahead just four minutes after the restart due to a brilliant volley by Giroud.
#4 Chelsea target Nelson Semedo on the left flank
Chelsea favoured attacking down the left flank since the get-go, and they had a couple of reasons for the same.
Firstly, they had a lot of talented players - Ben Chilwell, Timo Werner and Mason Mount - starting down the left side who have been highly involved in goals for them this term.
Secondly, Nelson Semedo struggled to contain Chilwell, Werner and Pulisic. The former Barcelona man was often isolated near the right-hand side of the box, and it was from that side that Chelsea eventually went on to break the deadlock.
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#3 Chelsea fail to make the most of their aerial threat
The visitors came close to scoring from a corner twice in the first half.
Olivier Giroud failed to connect with a corner in the 20th minute, heading Creswell's ball just over the crossbar. A couple of crosses came the striker's way before the break, but the final touch was missing.
Zouma did everything he could've done in the 45th minute to connect wonderfully with a brilliant leap, but could only hit the crossbar in the last minute of the first half.
In injury time, Chelsea had two corners but could not get past a determined Wolves defence. Lampard would have given his players, who failed to capitalise on their advantage in the air, an earful after the game.
#2 Timo Werner's form continues to frustrate Frank Lampard
Timo Werner produced yet another poor display in front of goal tonight, and was not effective at all going forward. He was to blame for some of Chelsea's missed opportunities in the box as he failed to connect with his attacking partners.
There were times when Werner failed to spot his teammate's runs; he failed to contribute in the defence; he was wasteful in possession. Frank Lampard appeared to grow visibly frustrated at his performance from the sidelines, and it seems like the Chelsea boss may have to drop the German to the bench.
#1 Wolves live up to their reputation of delivering impressive second-half performances
This season, Wolves have performed much better in the second half than in the first 45 minutes. Tonight, they did just enough to keep Chelsea attackers at bay in the first half, but when they went behind early in the second half, that ignited a fire within them.
Wolves shifted gears immediately. Rather than defending with five men ahead of the keeper, they started looking out for possibilities to make the most of Podence and Neto's pace on the counter.
Once they scored the equalising goal, Wolves were a completely different side. They grew confident with every passing minute, and bided their time looking for the perfect opportunity to strike on the break.
The opportunity came in injury time, and they made the most of it to seal the three points at the death. As a matter of fact, Santo's side only had two shots on target after the break and scored from both of them.
Also See: Top 10 goal-scoring substitutes in Premier League history
