Wolves produced an impressive away performance at Stamford Bridge on Sunday as Gary O’Neil’s side swept Chelsea aside to move into the top half of the Premier League table, with Matheus Cunha’s hat-trick securing the three points.
Cunha taking the plaudits
Wolves’ stunning display at the Bridge not only earned the Old Gold their first top flight away win at Chelsea since March 1979, but it was also the first time the team have completed a league double over the Blues since the 1974/75 season, following their 2-1 win at Molineux on Christmas Eve.
While on a personal note, Cunha became only the fourth visiting player to score a Premier League hat-trick against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge after Kanu for Arsenal in 1999, Robin van Persie for Arsenal in 2011 and Sergio Aguero for Manchester City in 2016.
After the match, legendary Wolves full-back Andy Thompson said: “It’s a nice stat for Cunha to have and a nice group to join. I just thought it was a quality performance today with the way that they played and the way that they took to the game. He’s been threatening that, hasn’t he? We talked about the fee being a big fee for him, but he’s looking like he’s on the cheap when you look at the Chelsea side and how much they cost compared to some of the players we had on display today. It shows you the quality that we’ve got. It wasn’t just about him though, even though he got the hat-trick, it was an outstanding performance from a lot of the players out there today.”
Neto back to full fitness
There were stand-out performances all over the pitch for Wolves at Stamford Bridge at the weekend, but one player who looked back to his best after a few games of getting up to speed following injury was Pedro Neto.
Despite the winger not getting on the scoresheet having netted against both West Bromwich Albion and Man United in the previous seven days, Neto produced his best showing since returning to the squad after his injury against Newcastle back in October saw him out of the side for more than two months. In partnership with Cunha, Neto ran Chelsea ragged with his direct running, which led to him getting two assists on the afternoon.
Thompson: “It was the composure that he had when he got there to pull the ball back to Cunha to actually put it into the net. But he does that every game. I feel like he’s still coming back from that injury and he’s making sure he’s ok, but each game, he’s just looking stronger and stronger again. He’s getting back to where he was before he got the injury. I could talk about the front three, Neto, Cunha and Sarabia, how efficient they were and how clinical they were, but I felt all over the pitch – you look at the midfield, the backline, the goalkeeper, I just felt it was a big all-round performance from a lot of players.”
A joy to watch.
— Wolves (@Wolves) February 5, 2024
🌟 @pedrolneto7 pic.twitter.com/7nsdy3oFi5
Falling behind to Palmer’s opener
Wolves’ win ensured Chelsea suffered their 10th Premier League defeat of season, on their 23rd game of the campaign, which is the Blues’ second worst start to a season after only taking 18 games to reach 10 losses back in 1993/94.
But Gary O’Neil’s side had to come from behind on Sunday afternoon after Cole Palmer had put the Blues ahead, and after the four Wolves goals put the result beyond doubt, Thiago Silva grabbed a consolation for Chelsea, with the veteran defender becoming the oldest outfield player to score a goal in the Premier League since Dean Windass for Hull City in November 2008.
Thompson: “[The first Chelsea goal] was against the run of play, and Toti just got caught square on, looking and watching the ball. He hasn’t opened up his shoulders to see where the player was, and it just shows you what happens in the Premier League – if you switch off for just one second, you get punished, and that’s exactly what happened. It was a good through ball, Palmer’s a good player and he put Chelsea one-nil up. They had a lapse for that goal, and the second goal for Chelsea was another one, but apart from that, the way they went about defending, closing the ball, pressing it, was outstanding. Two mistakes aren’t bad, but we got punished for both of them – but Wolves played really well.”
Wolves’ midfield dominance
O’Neil made a few changes from the side which started against Manchester United on Thursday evening, with Rayan Ait-Nouri coming in for Matt Doherty and Pablo Sarabia replacing Jean-Ricner Bellegarde. But for Thompson, the biggest impact came from a change of personnel in the centre of the park.
Having missed most of January through suspension, Joao Gomes returned to the starting 11 on Sunday afternoon replacing Tommy Doyle as the partner to Mario Lemina, and the Brazilian proved to be a key reason as to why Wolves secured their fourth away win of the season, as he pressed high up the pitch to rob the ball back for a few of the goals, while also claiming his first assist of the current term when he set up Cunha’s first of the afternoon.
Thompson: “The Chelsea fans weren’t happy with how their team played, but that was down to Wolves. Wolves didn’t allow them to play, they made it difficult for them, they pressed, and that’s the reason why Gomes was in there. Doyle’s a very good player, but Gomes and Lemina were very efficient in there and caused Chelsea so many problems by nicking that ball in good positions, and the pace we have up front was at their backline, which they couldn’t deal with.”
🇧🇷💛 pic.twitter.com/DVivp4xuGe
— Wolves (@Wolves) February 5, 2024
Taking momentum into Brentford
Although Silva’s header saw Chelsea claim a consolation as the game entered 10 minutes of added time, Wolves were able to see out the game and claim three points which have lifted O’Neil’s side into the top half of the Premier League table for the first time since the final day of the 2022/23 season.
With Wolves now just three points behind eight-placed Brighton & Hove Albion, and with a game against Brentford to come at Molineux on Saturday – who the Old Gold have already beaten twice this term in both league and cup, Thompson is hoping Wolves can continue their momentum for the rest of the season as they look up the table, rather than down.
Thompson: “It all came down to game management again. They had to make sure that they did the right things, but they were outstanding. It was a great performance from them, but now they’ve got to make sure they get the result next week off the back of this. We had that run of seven games before we lost to Man U, which was a good game in the end, we came here, with a great performance and a great win, and now we’ve just got to keep building on it. We’re into the top half of the league and it’s all about us and the way we complete the season now, because it’s been outstanding so far.”
Thompson was talking to Mikey Burrows on Wolves’ official post-match podcast, Matchday Live Extra, which is available to listen to now on all podcast providers.
