Chelsea clinched a 3-1 win at home against Wolves in the Premier League as the London side continue their pursuit of Champions League football.
Tosin Adarabioyo opened the scoring for the home side after a dominant start, but just before halftime, Matt Doherty levelled the game after poking his effort past Robert Sánchez. Marc Cucurella and Noni Madueke restored The Blues’ lead in the second half as Chelsea ran away with the game and all three points.
Both sides now turn their attention to next weekend, as Chelsea travel away to The Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City while Wolves host Arsenal at Molineux.
As it happened
Both teams settled into the game quickly in the opening 10 minutes, with Chelsea dominating most of the possession and the away side looking to counter whenever on the ball. Cole Palmer then had the home side’s first chance of the game, but the midfielder couldn’t guide his effort on target and past José Sá.
Five minutes later, Palmer had another opportunity to give The Blues the lead after driving into the box and getting an effort away, but Sá made a fine save to deny the 22-year-old.
Chelsea kept on pushing, and then, in the 23rd minute, Adarabioyo opened the scoring. Reece James’s cross found the defender in the box, and he made no mistake putting his effort past Sá.
Embed from Getty ImagesAfter the goal, Wolves started to control possession more as they tried to create chances and just before half-time, got the equalising goal through Doherty. The 33-year-old poked his effort past Sánchez after a mistake from the goalkeeper created a pinball situation in the box, with the Irish defender there to tap it in.
The second half started slowly, with both sides looking to control the game and possession, but the home side retook the lead in the 60th minute. Madueke’s fizzed cross was flicked on by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who found Cucurella in the six-yard box and the full-back made no mistake in turning his shot past Sá.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe London side extended their lead five minutes later after Sá made a mistake which gave Trevoh Chalobah a free header at goal at the back post which was turned in by Madueke on the goal line.
Wolves looked for a way back into the game, with Matheus Cunha having a big chance to halve the deficit, but Sánchez made a good save to deny the 25-year-old. The home side saw the rest of the game out, as they beat a deflated Wolves side. The result means they are back into the top four and now sit two points ahead of both Manchester City and Newcastle United.
The lineups
CHE: Sánchez; James, Adarabioyo, Chalobah, Cucurella; Caicedo, Dewsbury-Hall; Madueke, Palmer, Neto; Jackson
WOL: Sá; Semedo, Doherty, Bueno, Agbadou, Ait Nouri; Gomes, Andre; Cunha, Sarabia; Larsen
FEATURED IMAGE: Sebastien Mercier