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Brave Wolves Stun Chelsea (Sky Sports)
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Chelsea 0
Wolves
produced a remarkable performance to earn a memorable 1-0 win over Chelsea
in the Premier League and move out of the bottom three.
Jose Bosingwa's
own goal in the fifth minute was enough for the home side at Molineux, as
the Midlands outfit piled more pressure on Blues
boss Carlo Ancelotti.
The only goal of the game came early on as Stephen Hunt's corner was
diverted into his own net by the unwitting Bosingwa, and Wolves defended
doggedly to hold out for the three points.
Christophe Berra and Richard Stearman did a fine job to keep Didier Drogba
quiet, although Chelsea
squandered great opportunities with both Salomon Kalou
and Florent Malouda
missing the target.
Wayne Hennessey
produced a superb save in the first half and his goal remained unbreached
for the entire 90 minutes, leaving Chelsea nine points off leaders
Manchester United
having played a game more.
Branislav Ivanovic returned from suspension to start at centre-back for the
visitors, who also brought in Kalou for Nicolas Anelka and Bosingwa for
Paulo Ferreira.
Wolves also made three changes from their defeat at West Ham, with Kevin
Doyle returning from a thigh injury and Steven Fletcher coming into the team
to partner him up front. Dave Edwards also started.
Poor run
Chelsea came into the game on their worst run of form during the reign of
owner Roman Abramovich, having taken just 10 points from their previous 10
league games, and they got off to an awful start.
Ronald Zubar's fierce shot from 35 yards tested Petr Cech, who parried it
away for a corner.
And the resulting delivery from Hunt was attacked by Zubar at the near post
before Bosingwa turned it unwittingly into his own net under pressure from
Fletcher from almost on the goalline.
The Wolves fans taunted Ancelotti with chants of 'You're getting sacked in
the morning'.
Wolves were looking up for the fight, with Zubar in particular putting
himself about, hassling and then winning the ball off Ashley Cole in the
Chelsea half before laying it off to Doyle, whose weak left-footed shot was
straight at Cech.
At the other end Hennessey had to be alert to stick out a leg to stop
Kalou's close-range effort from Malouda's cross.
John Terry then got away with a talking-to from referee Mark Halsey after
pushing Hunt softly in the back of the neck as he looked to get the ball
back for a Chelsea free-kick.
Chelsea were out very early for the second half and they started with
intent, Michael Essien blazing over from outside the area and Cole seeing
his low angled shot from the left of the box comfortably held by Hennessey.
At the other end Cech had to punch away Matt Jarvis' corner from underneath
his crossbar.
Kalou should have levelled in the 53rd minute when Frank Lampard's clever
backheel played him in, but the Ivorian could only drag his left-footed shot
wide of the far post as Hennessey came off his line to narrow the angle.
Drogba then headed straight at Hennessey from a Kalou cross.
But Wolves were standing firm at the back and looking dangerous on the break
and Fletcher should have sent Doyle through on goal but his pass was poor.
Threat
Drogba was posing more of a threat and he turned Christophe Berra in the
area only to see his snap-shot hit the outside of the near post.
Kalou, who was having a poor game, was replaced by Anelka after 66 minutes.
Wolves went within a whisker of doubling their lead as Hunt's left-footed
free-kick hit the top of the bar, but they were almost undone at the other
end as Malouda got free in the left channel but shot wastefully wide.
Hunt should have done better when he found himself in acres of space down
the left, but Essien got back to make a crucial tackle.
Hennessey came racing out of his area to win a sliding challenge with
Anelka, before Drogba summed up Chelsea's night by firing a promising
injury-time free-kick from just outside the area tamely into the wall.
Wolverhampton Wanderers |
Team Statistics |
Chelsea |
1 |
Goals |
0 |
1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
2 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
1 |
Shots off Target |
10 |
1 |
Blocked Shots |
6 |
4 |
Corners |
9 |
16 |
Fouls |
13 |
1 |
Offsides |
3 |
0 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
60.2 |
Passing Success |
83.9 |
21 |
Tackles |
14 |
76.2 |
Tackles Success |
71.4 |
31.8 |
Possession |
68.2 |
46.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
53.1 |
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Hennessey, Zubar, Stearman,
Berra, Elokobi, Jarvis, Foley, Edwards, Hunt, Fletcher (Ebanks-Blake 69)
(Milijas 82), Doyle (Ward 70)
Subs Not Used
Hahnemann, Jones, Batth, Doherty
Booked
Goals
Bosingwa (og) 5
Chelsea
Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole,
Ramires (Sturridge 72), Essien, Lampard, Kalou (Anelka 66), Drogba, Malouda
(Kakuta 79)
Subs Not Used
Turnbull, Ferreira, Bruma, McEachran
Booked
Ivanovic
Goals
Attendance
2
Referee
M.
Halsey