Wolves 2-1 Chelsea: Blues fall short on Christmas Eve as Mario Lemina and Matt Doherty strikes consign Mauricio Pochettino’s men to an EIGHTH defeat of the season

When the teams were announced ahead of the match, the Molineux announcer said: 'Let's get this Christmas started' and thanks to Mario Lemina's second half header and Matt Doherty's stoppage time, Christmas came early for the home faithful with a win over the match. Chelsea.

Victory for Gary O'Neil's side took them level on points with Chelsea and a late goal from Christopher Nkunku on his Premier League debut was ultimately nothing more than a consolation as Mauricio Pochettino's side suffered their eighth league defeat of the season suffered.

It's fair to say there was little love for this match prior to the match, the first Premier League game to be played on Christmas Eve since 1995.

Pochettino insisted he was 'not happy' at having to miss his wedding anniversary on the 23rd, while Gary O'Neil wrote in his program notes that 'it was an inconvenience for some'.

The Football Supporters Association said a match on Christmas Eve was 'an unwanted gift that no one asked for' and dissatisfaction with the scheduling was so great that when the dates for next season were announced earlier in the week, the Premier League included a line saying : 'There will be no competition on December 24, 2024.'

But when thirty thousand fans descended on Molineux for the first top-flight game on Christmas Eve in 28 years, it was another reminder of the lifeblood of the game that is so often taken for granted.

With more than a billion pounds spent since Todd Boehly bought the club in May last year, 3,000 Chelsea-branded Santa hats would hardly have made a dent in Boehly's budget.

The supporters who made the trip north to Wolverhampton were treated to a festive souvenir, but the first half for them was a story of frustration amid what looked like a one-man mission from Raheem Sterling.

He was sparkling, but somehow the match remained goalless at half-time.

Just five minutes later a stunning Sterling run set up Armando Broja, who cut inside with only the keeper to beat, but Mario Lemina slid in with a perfect tackle to deny the Albanian, who came on to replace Mykhailo Mudryk as one of the three Chelsea substitutions. .

Lemina stood up and punched the air to celebrate as if he had scored.

Broja then cleared his shot from inside the box when he was tethered by Mario Gusto on the right flank after another brilliant Sterling run.

And Sterling's frustration was visible as he did an excellent job of floating a high throw to Nicolas Jackson, who was free in the box but failed to control the ball.

After half an hour, another raid from Sterling was interrupted by a cynical challenge on the edge of Lemina's penalty area, which rightly earned the Gabonese defender a yellow card.

Sterling's free-kick failed to test Jose Sa, but should have given Chelsea the lead shortly afterwards.

Sa – on his return to the team after an injury – passed the ball to Joao Gomes, who stood with his back to the goal and was dispossessed by none other than Sterling. who ran clear on goal and opted to go himself rather than pass the ball to Cole Palmer or Jackson.

It would have been a justified decision had he finished and more than understandable given his teammates' waste, but the 29-year-old was denied by a brilliant save from Sa. Palmer and Jackson looked furious. And so did Pochettino. Sterling should have been squared.

Yet Chelsea were fortunate not to fall behind at halftime. Pablo Sarabia's strike was deflected for a corner by Thiago Silva before Hwang Hee-Chan fired his effort over the bar as he cut in behind the Chelsea backline to ensure Chelsea remain the only side in the Premier League to score in the half not behind. time this season.

That's a statistic that will surprise many, but six minutes after the restart they fell behind.

Chelsea's midweek hero Djordje Petrovic kept Toti's header away with a stunning stop, but minutes later the keeper was unsure whether to get out for Pablo Sarabia's inswinging corner. And Petrovic could do nothing to deny Lemina's header.

It was the 16th consecutive top-flight match at Molineux in which Wolves scored, equaling a club record set in the 1969-70 season.

Chelsea's frustrations grew when Palmer was shown a yellow card for kicking the ball, meaning he would miss the next match against Crystal Palace. Just before the hour mark, Pochettino turned to Nkunku from the bench after an injury to Lesley Ugochukwu. Nkunku and Mudryk replaced Ugochukwu and Broja.

Sterling had a penalty waved away, which appeared to irritate Jackson, who fell to the ground in disbelief and was subsequently shown a yellow card for dissent from referee David Coote.

Including Gusto's booking, Pochettino's men had received three bookings in the space of six minutes in the second half.

Yet they were unlucky not to draw level when Toti denied Nkunku a goal with an off-the-line clearance.

The goal line technology showed that part of the ball had crossed the line, but Toti got there just in time.

Sterling was then denied by an excellent tackle from Craig Dawson, who subsequently had to leave with an injury with twenty minutes remaining.

With ten minutes to go, Pochettino made his last three substitutions in the hope of salvaging at least a point and when eleven minutes of added time were announced there were many groans around Molineux.

Those groans turned to cheers as the two substitutes brought in to close out the match put the game to bed together.

Matt Doherty put the icing on the cake with a calm finish after good work from Hugo Bueno on the left flank

The Chelsea fans headed for an early exit and despite Nkunku pulling one back with his first Chelsea goal to provide a glimmer of hope, it was only a consolation.

And when Sterling was booked for diving in the final stages, meaning he will be suspended for Wednesday's match at Stamford Bridge, it summed up the story of a dismal afternoon in the Midlands for Chelsea.

A huge three points for Wolves, who were bottom of the table at Christmas last year.