All eyes were on Chelsea Football Club who made a massive attempt to turn around their fortunes this week by bringing a new man at the helm. The sacking of Graham Potter paved the way for the former Blues’ boss to take control of things at Stamford Bridge. Struggling at the 11th place in the Premier League table, the West London outfit took on Wolves to get their season back on track.
The former Chelsea midfielder made quite a few changes to the side that played against Liverpool. N’Golo Kante, who showed promise after returning from injury against the Reds, was “rested.” Frank also decided to hand a start to Marc Cucurella in his back line after snubbing Ben Chillwell – arguably the most promising of Chelsea’s players from the past few games.
As far as the hosts were concerned, they went into the match just a place behind Chelsea though the difference in points showed eleven. Right from the kick-off at the Molineux, Wolves looked the better side with a better appetite to win the second balls. Chelsea, who opted for a back four as opposed to their back three in the last match, were put under constant pressure which they found hard to cope with.
Frank Lampard’s men looked toothless in attack with Joao Felix and Raheem Sterling struggling to get touches in dangerous positions. In the 31st minute, Julen Lopetegui’s side took the lead from a gorgeous valley from Mattheus Luis Nunez who bagged his first-ever goal for Wolves. Towards the end of the first half, there was an attacking intent on display from the Blues but they looked far away from penetrating a well-drilled home side.
Chelsea came out of the blocks quickly in the second half continuously threatening Jose Sa in front of the Wolves goal. However, the much-needed breakthrough wasn’t to be found until the 60th minute when Frank Lampard decided to make some alterations. The first to be removed was Kai Havertz and soon after Joao Felix and Raheem Sterling were also ordered to come off. Christian Pulisic, who was a familiar face under Frank Lampard during the latter’s first stint as Chelsea manager, got a chance to impress. Also, back in the frame was Aubameyang after a lengthy absence.
Despite the changes, Chelsea’s attack couldn’t produce what was expected of them. The Wolves defense stood firm and focused, hardly allowing Chelsea to play behind their back. The match looked like a familiar one for the Chelsea fans as the team couldn’t hit the back of the net after 90 mins of normal and around 6 minutes of added time.
While there wasn’t any change in Chelsea’s position in the league table, their ladder seemed to have grown even bigger. The only positive for Lampard was Wesley Fofana who followed up his Liverpool show with another stellar display at the back. On the other hand, Wolves stand right behind Chelsea as they were before the start of the game but this time with an eight-point gap.
It’s hard times for Chelsea and with every passing game, Champions League qualification looks to be going out of their reach. The matter of fact is that The Blues might well be on their way to losing out on even a Conference League spot if a combination to click isn’t found anytime soon. Overall, it was not the start Frank Lampard was hoping for in his second stint but it is all down to him getting the English giants back to winning ways.
