Chelsea 2-4 Wolves: Player ratings as Blues embarrassed at Stamford Bridge

FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE - Chelsea dropped back into the bottom half of the Premier League with a 4-2 defeat at home to Wolves on Sunday.

The Blues were made to look like the away team at Stamford Bridge and will end the week having conceded eight goals in their last two matches, slipping below Wanderers into 11th.

Gary O'Neil's side were great value for their victory to inflict Chelsea their latest day of infamy.

How the game unfolded

Wolves went close to taking the lead in the opening two minutes, with the visitors twice winning the ball high up the pitch. Pedro Neto forced Djordje Petrovic into a low save before Matheus Cunha's effort from distance was easily held by the Chelsea goalkeeper.

Straight down the other end, Chelsea forged a great chance of their own. Conor Gallagher's ball in behind the backline was met by Christopher Nkunku ahead of Jose Sa, but Craig Dawson retreated in time to deny the Frenchman a certain goal with a last-ditch tackle.

The Blues took the lead midway through the first half. All three midfielders combined nicely before Moises Caicedo slipped through Cole Palmer. who slotted home into the far corner over the trailing leg of Sa.

But within minutes, Wolves pulled themselves level. Caicedo was robbed of possession and the visitors broke at pace, with Joao Gomes playing in Cunha, with his strike taking a huge deflection off of Thiago Silva and trickling in.

Just before the break, Wolves went in front. Neto scampered away beyond Ben Chilwell and cut the ball back for Rayan Ait-Nouri, whose shot rolled in via a deflection off of Axel Disasi.

Almost immediately after the restart, Wolves went close to adding a third having again robbed Chelsea of the ball in their own half. Neto held off the advances of Malo Gusto and fired towards goal, only to be denied by the sturdy frame of Petrovic.

Chelsea thought they had found an equaliser soon after. Palmer's floated ball over the top was knocked back by Chilwell and into the path of Sterling, but he dragged his half-volley wide.

Wolves' third goal came just after the hour mark. A loose touch from Enzo Fernandez allowed Neto to run beyond the wily Silva, and he squared it for Cunha to smash home.

A fourth nearly followed when Cunha picked out Pablo Sarabia at the far post, but his half-volley whistled over the bar.

Heading into the final ten minutes, Wolves were awarded a penalty when Gusto felled Cunha from behind. The Brazilian stepped up and sent Petrovic the wrong way to seal his hat-trick.

Silva was able to easily head in a corner for Chelsea in the latter stages to reduce the deficit back to two goals.

Chelsea wanted a stoppage-time penalty when Nicolas Jackson was grounded under a challenge from Toti Gomes, but the referee waved away appeals.

Jean-Ricner Bellegarde should have then added a fifth when allowed to run through on goal, but Petrovic produced a fine save to spare his side any further embarrassment.

Chelsea player ratings (4-3-3)

GK: Djordje Petrovic - 5/10 - Not much he could have done about the goals. Made some decent saves but it wasn't to be his day.

RB: Malo Gusto - 2/10 - Wolves continually targeted Chelsea's attack-minded full-backs and Gusto didn't have the attacking productivity or composure in possession to get away with his defensive lapses. His last action was conceding a penalty.

CB: Axel Disasi - 3/10 - A little unfortunate with the own goal but a continual liability on the ball and trying to pin down Wolves' tricky forwards.

CB: Thiago Silva - 3/10 - Badly showed his age when trying and failing to catch Neto leading to Wolves' third goal.

LB: Ben Chilwell - 3/10 - Like Gusto was caught in behind but at least proved useful going the other way on occasion.

CM: Moises Caicedo - 4/10 - Set up Palmer's opener with a delicate ball beyond the Wolves defence but from there on was a nervous wreck, giving away the equaliser. Sacrificed for another attacker in Jackson in the second half.

CM: Enzo Fernandez - 4/10 - Some neat touches and passes here and there but failed to make a lasting imprint on a game that desperately needed some control.

CM: Conor Gallagher - 4/10 - Whether pushing up alongside Nkunku or playing deeper with his midfield contemporaries, Gallagher's only useful contribution came in the build-up to the opener.

RW: Cole Palmer - 7/10 - The only Chelsea player exuding any sort of brilliance, but needed to simplify his game when the tide was against the hosts instead of trying to do everything alone.

CF: Christopher Nkunku - 5/10 - Marked out of the game by Wolves' three giant centre-backs and had to drop extremely deep to get a touch of the ball.

LW: Raheem Sterling - 5/10 - Booed off by Chelsea fans but at least showed some adventure on the ball before his substitution.

Substitutes

SUB: Nicolas Jackson (63' for Caicedo) - 5/10

SUB: Mykhailo Mudryk (72' for Sterling) - 5/10

SUB: Carney Chukwuemeka (72' for Nkunku) - 5/10

SUB: Alfie Gilchrist (81' for Gusto) - N/A

SUB: Benoit Badiashile (81' for Chilwell) - N/A

Subs not used: Marcus Bettinelli (GK), Lucas Bergstrom (GK), Cesare Casadei, Noni Madueke

Manager

Mauricio Pochettino - 3/10 - Chelsea lacked a clear plan at either end and there will be questions over his future.

Wolves player ratings (3-4-3)

GK: Jose Sa - 5/10 - Didn't have too much to do in way of shot-stopping.

CB: Max Kilman - 6/10 - Doubled up on Sterling and matched him stride for stride on the wing, while Chilwell was only afforded freedom a couple of times.

CB: Craig Dawson - 7/10 - Produced a crucial block early on to deny Nkunku and that largely set the tone - Wolves were not to be undone by Chelsea's undersized striker.

CB: Toti Gomes - 7/10 - Sometimes thrown off by Palmer's jinks but didn't afford him too much room after his early strike.

RM: Nelson Semedo - 6/10 - Suitably stretched play or tucked inside to allow Wolves' frontline the freedom to operate at will.

CM: Mario Lemina - 7/10 - Didn't shy away from challenges and diligently broke up play.

CM: Joao Gomes - 8/10 - Whether winning the ball back or shifting it on, the young Brazilian was superb at carrying out his tasks. The finest midfielder on the pitch.

LM: Rayan Ait-Nouri - 7/10 - Like Semedo knew when to play inside or out, leading to Wolves' second goal.

RF: Pablo Sarabia - 7/10 - An ideal and intricate co-star to Wolves' formidable scoring duo to his left.

LF: Matheus Cunha - 10/10 - Easy to see why he was on the books at Atletico Madrid and why he is now being linked with another big move. Chelsea couldn't stop Cunha from doing whatever he wanted.

CF: Pedro Neto - 9/10 - Wolves' fluid front three won them the game, with Neto beginning centrally and drifting to the wing to create space for his teammates. Another player unsurprisingly tipped to achieve great things.

Substitutes

SUB: Tommy Doyle (73' for Sarabia) - 5/10

SUB: Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (73' for Neto) - 5/10

SUB: Hugo Bueno (87' for Ait-Nouri) - N/A

SUB: Matt Doherty (90' for Gomes) - N/A

Subs not used: Dan Bentley (GK), Santiago Bueno, Harvey Griffiths, Tawanda Chirewa, Nathan Fraser

Manager

Gary O'Neil - 8/10 - Wolves were able to dictate the flow of the game despite having less of the ball.

Player of the match - Matheus Cunha (Wolves)