Chelsea suffered a 4-2 loss against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Sunday, February 4, as Wolves forward Matheus Cunha scored a hat-trick.
The Blues started the match brightly and went in front after 19 minutes as Cole Palmer converted Caicedo’s pass with a cool finish at the far post to continue his fine run of form.
However, their lead lasted barely three minutes as Matheus Cunha leveled the scores for Wolves, with his shot taking a deflection off Thiago Silva inside the box.
An own goal from Axel Disasi in the 43rd minute put Wolves 2-1 up before the break. Cunha bagged their third of the evening with a fine strike in the 63rd minute. He then completed his hat-trick in the 82nd minute from 12 yards after winning the penalty himself from a foul by Malo Gusto.
With just four minutes of normal time left on the clock, Thiago Silva scored a goal for Chelsea with a header from a corner and reduced the deficit, but it was too little, too late.
Chelsea lost for the second time in a row, and a 10th time overall in the league already this season from 23 games to slip to 11th position on the top-flight table. Wolves leapfrogged them into 10th place.
Here are the hits and flops from the match:
Hit: Matheus Cunha (Wolves)
Matheus Cunha, the man of the match, powered Wolves to a memorable win with a sensational hat-trick at the Stamford Bridge, the first of his Premier League career.
There was an element of luck in his opening goal, as it took a deflection off Thiago Silva on its way, but he clinically finished off the second, before neatly placing his penalty beyond Dorde Petrovic for a treble.
Cunha’s positional awareness in key attacking moments was commendable and he utilized the space between Chelsea’s defenders to devastating effect. The best match of his career.
Flop: Axel Disasi (Chelsea)
To call Axel Disasi’s performance a disaster would be an understatement. The Chelsea centre-back came a cropper for two of Wolverhampton’s four goals on the evening as Disasi had perhaps one of his worst games of the season.
Disasi was caught on the wrong foot for their first one, allowing Cunha to unleash his effort that deflected off Silva before nestling in the back of the net. Just 20 minutes later, Disasi himself was guilty of a deflection, inadvertently turning home Ryan Ait-Nouri’s shot into his own net.
Even though the 28-year-old won all four of his ground duels and flexed his dribbling skills, he struggled to contain Wolves’ forwards and was dragged all over the place.
Hit: Pedro Neto (Wolves)
Matheus Cunha might have taken all the plaudits for their epic win, but Pedro Neto was the architect of Wolverhampton’s now-famous night. The Portuguese forward dazzled with creative brilliance and electric speed on the flanks, as Chelsea had no answers to his menace.
Neto was involved in their equalizer, combining with Joao Gomes in the centre of the park to regain possession and launch a counter. He then teed up Ait-Nouri for their second following an unchallenged run on the right, before repeating the trick for their third.
Flop: Malo Gusto (Chelsea)
Wolves were constantly trying to capitalize on the space left in behind by Chelsea’s attacking full-backs, especially on right-back Malo Gusto’s side. The 20-year-old found himself out of position on numerous occasions when Wolves launched an attack and conceded the penalty late on.
Gusto’s positioning for their equalizer was poor, and his pace on the recovery wasn’t enough. He couldn’t do much for Cunha’s second goal as the Brazilian smashed it home with great power, but Gusto then gifted them a penalty by hacking the forward down inside the box.
Hit: Joao Gomes (Wolves)
Another Brazilian who enjoyed an excellent day at work was Joao Gomes. He mopped up everything in front of him and displayed his precocious ball-carrying ability. The midfielder even bagged the assist for Wolverhampton’s equalizing goal.
Gomes dispossessed Moises Caicedo near the halfway line and ran forward before cutting the ball out to Cunha on the left, who then did the rest. The Wolves No.8 made five successful tackles on the evening and won six ground duels, proving to be a thorn in Chelsea’s flesh.
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