Thanks for joining us. Here is Pete Lansley’s report.
Mauricio Pochettino: “We feel very disappointed because we deserve much more. We are not clinical enough. We created chances and had the possession.
“It is a young team and many players are in the Premier League for the first time. They need to adapt. We need to learn from these games. We are in a position Chelsea should not be in.”
Mario Lemina: “It is amazing. The support that we’ve got here is fantastic – we just push all the time. We are really happy to make this performance in front og our supporters.”
Matt Doherty: “[The goal was] very important because they nicked a goal at the end. I tend to have a knack over my career of being in the right place at the right time and I slotted it away.”
Merry Christmas!
I’m afraid those intestinal problems have returned so I might be absent for a bit, but Pete Lansley’s match report will appear shortly.
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Full time: Wolves 2-1 Chelsea
That’s it! Wolves move up to 11th, level on points with Chelsea, after another stirring win over a Big Seven club at Molineux. Mario Lemina and Matt Doherty were the scorers, and Christopher Nkunku’s first Premier League goal wasn’t enough for Chelsea.
Not for the first time this season, Chelsea missed far too many chances. If they had a goalscorer they’d be dangerous.
90+13 min Hwang almost seals the game, stumbling into the area before being desperately tackled.
90+11 min The two late goals mean yet more added time.
90+10 min Hugo Bueno is booked for fouling Madueke, then the Chelsea sub keeper Marcus Bettinelli gets a yellow card as well.
90+9 min Sterling collides with Joao Gomes in the area and goes over. He’s booked for diving, an exceptionally harsh decision that means he, along with Cole Palmer, will miss the Crystal Palace game on Wednesday.
Sterling’s deflected cross loops up towards Nkunku, unmarked six yards out, and he strained his neck muscles to guide a header into the far corner. It’s his first goal for Chelsea. “That,” says Alan Smith on Sky, “is a top header.”
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GOAL! Wolves 2-1 Chelsea (Nkunku 90+6)
Now then!
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90+5 min On the Chelsea bench, Mauricio Pochettino’s facial expression is one part distressed, four parts fuming.
I thought Matt Doherty’s introduction signalled the parking of the bus by Wolves. Far from it: he has just sealed the game! Hugo Bueno’s low cross was cut out at the near post by Badiashile – but he only guide the ball straight to Doherty, who opened his body to slide the ball calmly past Petrovic. That’s a very accomplished finish.
GOAL! Wolves 2-0 Chelsea (Doherty 90+3)
The bus driver has scored!
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90+2 min Madueke cuts inside from the right but shoots wide of the far post. The wrong option, poorly executed.
90 min A fierce cross from Madueke is fumbled by Sa, but he gets away with it. There will be 11 minutes of added time.
88 min The commentators think there will be around 10 minutes of added time, in no small part because of the injury too Craig Dawson.
87 min “Just as a counterpoint to Charles Antaki’s well observed moment of 2023, I’d note that the Premier League had its first female referee yesterday with a refreshing absence (I think?) of hullabaloo and the England women’s goalkeeper won SPOTY (it feels like only one World Cup since ‘these teams need a man in goal’ was still getting an airing),” says Tom Hopkins. “Yes, there’s a lot of depressing stuff, but sometimes it goes the other way too. And, while I’m here, thanks to you and the rest of the MBM/OBO team for another excellent year, you all enrich my enjoyment of so many sports. A lovely Christmas and new year to all.”
That’s a very good point too. It’s a confusing time to be alive. And thanks for the note – MBMs are probably 95 per cent fun, 5 per cent misery. In 2023, that’s a pretty good ratio.
86 min: Double substitution for Wolves Hugo Bueno and Matt Doherty replace Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri. The Christmas bus has been parked.
84 min A half chance for Nkunku, who heads a dropping ball straight at Sa from eight yards. Hwang is alone on the halfway line, no Chelsea defenders anywhere him – Jose Sa spots him but then boots the ball straight out of play. It’s rare to say that a goalkeeper has missed a great chance but that’s kind of what Jose Sa kind did then.
83 min If it stays like this Wolves will be level on points with Chelsea. But that is an increasingly big if: after good play from Palmer, Madueke’s cross is desperately cleared at the near post with Nkunku lurking.
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82 min Wolves break and Doyle wobbles a good shot across goal from 25 yards. Petrovic dives to his right to push it away two-handed.
79 min: Triple substitution for Chelsea Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke and Ian Maatsen replace Colwill, Gusto and Jackson.
I thought Lavia was coming on; I was wrong.
78 min Romeo Lavia, one of Chelsea’s big summer signings, is about to come off the bench to make his debut.
76 min Wolves break five on four, with no other Chelsea players in a hurry to get back, but Doyle’s cross is too close to Petrovic.
76 min Cunha hits the side netting with a snapshot after yet another defensive mistake, this time from Gusto.
75 min: Wolves substitution Tommy Doyle replaces Pablo Sarabia, whose erudite left foot made the goal.
74 min Nkunku, such a smooth and progressive player, releases Mudryk on the left. He goes backwards with a dodgy ball to Gallagher, who is penalised for a foul on Hwang.
72 min Mudryk’s cross is put behind by Kilman. Chelsea take the corner quickly; Gusto’s long-range shot is blocked.
70 min: Wolves substitution Santiago Bueno replaces Craig Dawson.
70 min They’re calling for a stretcher now. Dawson is sitting up, so there are no concerns about him being unconscious, but it could be a serious injury nonetheless.
69 min While we wait, have a look at Mario Lemina’s goal.
Lemina puts Wolves ahead! 🐺♨️ pic.twitter.com/cw0Hc0wVur
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 24, 2023
68 min Dawson is still down. I’m not sure whether he tweaked something as he stretched or collided with Jose Sa.
67 min “Merry Christmas Rob, and all MBMers!” says Simon McMahon. “Biggest football story of the year is undoubtedly Dundee United’s relegation from the Scottish Premier Scotland qualifying for a second Euro finals in a row, and with two games to spare. Biggest story of next year would be if we finally manage to get out of our group in Germany. That’d be like us winning the tournament, as opposed to actually winning the tournament, which is what I suspect England might do…”
66 min: Great block by Dawson! It’s all Chelsea now. Nkunku and Palmer calmly open Wolves up on the edge of the area, with the latter finding Sterling in space to the right. He takes a touch and drills a low shot that is heroically blocked by Dawson, sliding hin front of Jose Sa in the six-yard box.
Dawson has injured himself in the process and may have to go off.
64 min Now Cunha is booked for dissent.
63 min: Off the line by Tote! Palmer’s cross-shot from the left side of the area hits a defender and loops up in the air. Sa goes after the loose ball, gets nowhere near it and is struggling to get back on his line when Nkunku flicks a shot towards goal from 10 yards. Tote gets back to just – and I mean just – clear it off the line.
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63 min Joao Gomes shoots straight at Petrovic from distance. Palmer is indeed playing in central midfield now, with Mudryk on the left, Sterling on the right and Nkunku behind Jackson.
61 min Sterling goes down in the area after a clumsy challenge from the falling Tote – but the referee gives a foul against Sterling. It’s a tough one to call, and even tougher to overturn, so VAR checkcompletes it pretty quickly.
Jackson is booked for dissent.
60 min Gusto is booked for kicking the ball away.
60 min “Fair point about the Saudi sportswashing threatening to drown football,” says Charles Antaki, “but for a graphic moment that crystallised a long-standing evil, Rubiales’ kiss is a contender for the photo-story of 2023.”
Actually, yes, I think you’re right. The dispiriting thing is that all the biggest stories have generally been a) off the field and b) well, dispiriting.
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59 min: Chelsea substitutions Mykhailo Mudryk and Christopher Nkunku replace Lesley Ugochukwu and Armando Broja. No idea what that means in terms of Chelsea’s shape; Palmer may go back into central midfield.
Nkunku is making a belated Premier League debut.
58 min “As I sit here in America, I wonder what all the fuss is about concerning a Christmas Eve match,” writes Joe Pearson. “The NBA has been playing on Christmas Day for almost 80 years! Tomorrow there will be five nationally televised games, back to back, starting at noon. And no one seems to think that is an affront to the natural order of things. Of course, there really is no such thing as traveling fans in the NBA, so what do I know?”
Christmas Day football was the norm in England until the late 1950s/early 1960s. Brentford tried to revive it in 1983 without success.
57 min Palmer is booked for kicking the ball away (I think), which means he’ll miss the game at home to Crystal Palace on 27 December. Ugochukwu is also down with what seems to be a muscle injury.
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55 min Kilman and Semedo leave the ball to each other just outside their own area. Jackson nips between them and runs through on goal – but then he tries to cut back on his right foot and is challenged by Semedo. “That’s a left-foot finish,” says Alan Smith, who knows of what he speaks after winning two Golden Boots back in the day.
55 min A rampant Lemina tries his luck from distance on the left. It’s well struck but close enough for Petrovic to pat the ball down and grab it at the second attempt.
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53 min Disasi runs straight past the ball, 35 yards from his own goal, and Cunha gets away down the left. He squares it to Hwang, who backs into Colwill and then falls over. Wolves want a penalty; they won’t get one.
The first challenge from Colwill wasn’t a clear and obvious error but it looked like he may then have pulled Hwang back as he tried to get his feet. I’d like to see it again.
GOAL! Wolves 1-0 Chelsea (Lemina 51)
In the fifth minute of the first half, Mario Lemina celebrated a goal-saving challenge. Now, in the sixth minute of the second half, he’s celebrating a goal!
Sarabia’s wicked inswinging corner landed straight on his head and he guided it neatly into the far corner. Chelsea have looked uncomfortable with those Sarabia corners all afternoon.
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50 min Apologies folks, there was an internal emergency that merits no elaboration. I believe we missed a VAR check for a possible Wolves penalty after the ball touched the hand of Ugochukwu. Nothing doing.
46 min Peep peep!
“What do you think,” says Kurt Perleberg, “is the biggest soccer story of 2023?”
The most seismic is the development of the Saudi Pro League, isn’t it? Man City’s world domination feels like the biggest on-field story, even if it didn’t make as big a splash as it probably should have done.
“Was Sterling put off by Jackson potentially being in an offside position when they were in on goal?” wonders Chris N. “It was very close. Palmer was clearly behind Sterling but I think Jackson’s positioning may have prevented the pass from Sterling.”
Ah, possibly, I didn’t see that as I was desperately entering TYPE FAST mode as he ran through on goal.
Half time: Wolves 0-0 Chelsea
A frustrating half for Chelsea, who are ahead on every metric except the one that matters. Raheem Sterling, who was otherwise the best player on the pitch by a distance, missed the best chance after robbing Joao Gomes to run through one on one. Wolves improved and finished the half strongly, but Gary O’Neil won’t need an xG algorithm to tell him they are fortunate to be level.
45+2 min Palmer’s free-kick is dropped by Sa, who is very relieved to grab the loose ball. He throws it out to Cunha, who then loses it to Palmer 25 yards from goal. He moves infield and smacks a shot that deflects over the bar.
45 min Two minutes.
44 min: Chance for Hwang! That’s Wolves’ best opportunity. Joao Gomes (I think) collected the ball on the right touchline and drove a long ball over the top of the Chelsea defence. Petrovic stayed on his line this time, which allowed Hwang to run away from Thiago and blast a first-time shot over the bar from 16 yards.
44 min Palmer fouls Ait-Nouri on the edge of the D, but Wolves are denied a free-kick because of a hitherto uncalled offside earlier in the move.
42 min Wolves are having a really good spell as half-time approaches. Semedo’s chipped cross is headed away to the edge of the area, where Sarabia hits a decent snapshot that deflects wide off Thiago.
40 min An iffy header from Disasi goes straight to Cunha on the edge of the area. His mishit shot turns into a through ball for Hwang, who can’t quite control an awkward ball on the stretch. The first touch takes him away from goal but he manages to win a corner. It’s headed away at the near post.
38 min Petrovic comes a long way outside his area to beat Semedo to a crossfield pass. Good goalkeeping.
36 min “Sterling doing a jumping, exasperated 360 after his pass squeezed under Jackson’s dangling foot ensured he did not square the ball when clean through,” says David Bowen. “ No confidence in his teammates.”
Surely he has enough confidence to give Jackson an open goal! I suspect, in that process moment, the entire scope of his vision was from the left-hand post to the right.
32 min: Big save by Jose Sa! What a chance that was for Sterling. Jose Sa played a straight ball to Joao Gomes, the last man, 40 yards from his own goal. His slightly heavy touch allowed Sterling to nick possession and charge through one on one. He telegraphed his shot a little by opening his body and Sa dived to his left to make a vital save. That was by far the best chance of the match.
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31 min Sarabia’s free-kick hits the shoulder of Ugochukwu and flies behind for a corner.
30 min Wolves are having their best attacking spell of the game. Ait-Nouri slaloms infield, all the way to the edge of the D before being fouled by Gallagher. He is also booked.
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29 min Sterling curls a fairly poor free-kick over the bar. That’s the first thing he’s done wrong all game.
27 min Lemina is booked for fouling Sterling this far outside the area. He’s been nigh-on unplayable so far.
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25 min “Speaking of comebacks, I’ll take your comment on Chelsea’s formation as an excuse to mention the Shout Out Louds,” writes Håkan Burden. “An alternative story would focus on the 24th being the Swedish ‘julafton’ when we eat a supersized smörgåsbord and watch Donald Duck. But to me, the concept of comeback fits just fine. Thanks for the MBM and Merry Christmas!”
I would link to my favourite Shout Out Louds song in return, but I’m not sure Wish I Was Dead, Part 2 really captures the festive mood. Merry Christmas!
24 min Ait-Nouri’s sharp cutback is miscontrolled at the near by Sarabia, though there was an offside earlier in the move so I’m not sure why I’m bothering with this entry.
24min Wolves haven’t got going at all in attack. They’re also really struggling to deal with the movement and penetration of Sterling, who is playing from the left rather than on the left.
21 min Sterling moves over to the right, wriggles away from Dawson and curls a lovely cross towards the unmarked Jackson at the far post. He miscontrols it and another chance goes begging. “First time, surely!” pleads the former Arsenal striker Alan Smith on Sky Sports. Moments later, Gallagher’s shot from 25 yards is blocked.
19 min Now Sterling is down holding his left shin after a challenge from Semedo. He won a loose ball and then caught Sterling in his follow-through. Painful but not worthy of a red card, and play continues after a brief VAR check.
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18 min Chelsea continue to dictate play. After a long spell of possession Sterling again tries to run Semedo, who this time matches him for speed and concedes a throw-in. That’s becoming a key contest.
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16 min Ait-Nouri is okay to continue. Maybe it was all a ruse to allow O’Neil to get his iPad out.
15 min Rayan Ait-Nouri is down with a foot problem. Gary O’Neil takes the opportunity to give his players a tactical presentation.
13 min Sterling scorches past Semedo on the left and drives a cross that is put behind for Chelsea’s first corner.
11 min Sterling releases Gusto on the right of his area. His fast cutback is miskicked at the near post by Broja, which also takes it away from the onrushing Gallagher. That was a chance.
Chelsea are playing some really good stuff, and Sterling has been electric.
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10 min “Happy Christmas,” says Jeff Sax, “and a happy new year, Rob.”
The same to you Jeff, and all of the readers. May Santa bring you all a guaranteed trophy next year.
8 min Another important intervention, this time from Semedo. Sterling, who has started brilliantly, guided a pass towards Jackson in the area. He was about to shoot when Semedo came on his blindside to poke the ball back to Jose Sa. Nobody really appealed for a backpass, and thankfully that isn’t in VAR’s purview.
7 min Early kick-offs often start sluggishly, but so far this has verged on the frantic. I say that as a compliment.
5 min A vital tackle from Lemina! Sterling led a Chelsea break and slid the to ball on the far side of the area. He sat Semedo down and cut inside, only for Lemina to across to make an ungainly but crucial challenge. Lemina even celebrated the tackle, punching the air in delight. In fairness, it may well have saved a goal.
4 min Sterling fires a pass into Palmer on the edge of the area. He cushions it out in front, probably with a shot in mind, but then Broja gets in his way.
3 min Sterling surges down the left and goes down after being leaned on by Lemina. The referee decides there isn’t enough contact for a foul, a judgement with which Sterling does not concur.
3 min Chelsea’s formation is closer to 4-4-2, with Jackson and Broja. Don’t call it a comeback.
1 min Peep peep! Wolves kick off from right to left as we watch.
Molineux never lets you down, and there’s a decent atmosphere despite the strangeness of playing on Christmas Eve. Let’s crack on.
“Is the photo of an empty stairwell on the footer page announcing this game a tribute to all the lonely people at Christmas?” says Ian Copestake. “Job done.”
Do you remember the last time?
Wolves: ‘A lot better than anticipated’
Chelsea: ‘We knew patience was needed, but…’
Team news
Gary O’Neil makes two changes to the Wolves side that lost at West Ham last weekend. Jose Sa returns in goal and Rayan Ait-Nouri starts at left wing-back. Dan Bentley and Jeanricner Bellegarde drop out.
Chelsea have made a load of changes from their Carabao Cup win over Newcastle. In come Levi Colwill, Axel Disasi, Lesley Ugochukwu, Raheem Sterling, and Nicolas Jackson; out go Ian Maatsen, Benoit Badiashile, Moises Caicedo (ill), Mykhailo Mudryk and Christopher Nkunku.
Wolves (possible 3-4-2-1) Jose Sa; Kilman, Dawson, Tote; Nelson Semedo, Lemina, Joao Gomes, Ait-Nouri; Hwang, Sarabia; Cunha.
Substitutes: Bentley, S Bueno, Doyle, H Bueno, Doherty, Chirewa, Hesketh, Kalajdzic, Barnett.
Chelsea (possible 4-2-3-1) Petrovic; Gusto, Disasi, Thiago Silva, Colwill; Ugochukwu, Gallagher; Palmer, Jackson, Sterling; Broja.
Substitutes: Bettinelli, Bergstrom, Badiashile, Maatsen, Mudryk, Lavia, Madueke, Nkunku, Matos.
Referee David Coote.
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Preamble
What sort of day do you call this? It’s Christmas Eve and there’s football on. Wolves v Chelsea is only the second game to be played on 24 December in the Premier League era and the first since Leeds beat Manchester United in 1995. Matchgoing supporters on both sides aren’t thrilled, but it’s not about them – it’s the millions watching at home or in the pub, shooting their boozy bolt a day earlier, who matter. Merry Christmas!
Still, as mid-table clashes go, this one is pretty enticing. The promoted clubs, wh o most people thought were relegated, have started twitching like horror-movie baddies, and Wolves are one of the teams who could be affected. Though they are nowhere near relegation trouble yet, will feel less secure than they did a month ago – or than they would be had VAR not cost them however many points.
Chelsea won’t go down and they almost certainly won’t qualify for Europe through the league, but every match is a chance to develop under Mauricio Pochettino and move a step – a barely perceptible step, maybe, but a step nonetheless – closer to becoming the side of Todd Boehly’s dreams.
Kick off 1pm.
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