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Wolves come from behind to beat Chelsea

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Diogo Jota has scored five goals in his last two games
Diogo Jota scored his first goal in the Premier League after netting 17 goals in the Championship in 2017-18
Diogo Jota scored his first goal in the Premier League after netting 17 goals in the Championship in 2017-18

Wolves fought back from a goal down to stun Chelsea and gain their first victory in seven Premier League matches.

The visitors went ahead when Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s 25-yard effort was headed into his own net by Wolves captain Conor Coady.

Chelsea had chances to extend their lead but Willian had a free-kick tipped over, Antonio Rudiger shot off target and N’Golo Kante fired just wide.

Those misses proved costly as Raul Jimenez’s low strike, following a fine run from 18-year-old midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, made it level.

Wolves scored what proved to be the winner four minutes later as Matt Doherty’s cross was finished at the back post by Diogo Jota for his first Premier League goal.

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It is now back-to-back away league defeats for Maurizio Sarri’s side, who are set to drop down to fourth below Tottenham and remain 10 points behind leaders Manchester City, who they play at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

READ: Its Henry vs Vieira as Monaco play Nice

Wolves end ‘bad moment’ in style

For Nuno Espirito Santo’s side it was a much-needed three points after a six-game winless run since their 1-0 away victory at Crystal Palace on 6 October.

Wolves were promoted to the Premier League after winning the Championship last season and picked up 15 points from their opening eight top-flight matches, but had then gained only one point from their next six.

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The Portuguese boss admitted his side were “in a bad moment” after losing 2-1 at Cardiff on Friday and looked on course for another defeat when the visitors went ahead after only 18 minutes and had opportunities to extend that lead further.

Wolves had been restricted to two headers off target from Jimenez in the first half, but the Mexican scored his fourth league goal of the season in the 59th minute to start the fightback.

Gibbs-White, who was part of the England team that won the Under-17 World Cup in 2017, was making his first Premier League start in place of the suspended Ruben Neves and did superbly to run at the Chelsea defence and release Jimenez.

The striker shot low at goal and the ball went under Blues goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga as the hosts scored with their first shot on target.

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They also found the net with their second attempt on target four minutes later.

Willian thought he had been fouled by Joao Moutinho but Jonathan Moss waved play on and that enabled Moutinho to set up Doherty who had enough space to cross from the right for Jota’s winning goal.

Another defeat on the road for Chelsea

This was Chelsea’s first away match since their 3-1 loss at Tottenham and Sarri’s side will be wondering how they were beaten again in a match where they had 70% possession and 17 attempts.

Sarri handed first league starts of the season to defender Andreas Christensen and midfielders Cesc Fabregas and Loftus-Cheek, who had scored when he came off the bench in the 2-0 win over Fulham on Sunday.

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The England midfielder will try to claim the 18th-minute goal when he shot from 25 yards out, although it could go down as an own goal as Coady, trying to block the effort, stooped low to head it, but could only steer it past Rui Patricio.

Chelsea’s lead looked a comfortable one as Willian’s 22-yard free-kick was excellently tipped over by Patricio and Rudiger wastefully shot over.

And the Blues may feel they should have had a penalty early in the second half when Loftus-Cheek’s low cross was destined to present Alvaro Morata with a simple tap in, only for the Spaniard to fall under Willy Boly’s challenge.

Referee Moss, however, waved away Chelsea’s penalty appeal.

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Wolves’ Moutinho was also fortunate to not see a second yellow card for a foul on Loftus-Cheek, which came only two minutes after he had been cautioned for fouling Hazard.

But still Chelsea created chances as Willian shot over and Kante fired inches wide in the 57th minute before two goals in four minutes turned the match around.

For Morata, preferred up front ahead of Olivier Giroud, it was another unconvincing performance with him wasting his only chance – shooting over from 25 yards after only 11 minutes.

Giroud replaced Morata in the second half but he too headed over from a corner, Hazard shot just off target and Fabregas missed with a curling effort as Wolves held on.

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