Wolves
Match Thread: Wolves vs Chelsea FC
That Nunes Moment
By Wolves
December 23 2023
Just a brief intrroduction to this game as it's a busy weekend. The Premier League, whilst pretending to have the best interests of fans at the heart of their business have, for some reason caved into sky's demand for a match on Christmas Eve and the Wolves v Chelsea game has been chosen. Complaints and objections from both cxlubs and fans have had no impact so the game is destined to take place.
Wolves have had considerable success against Chelsea at Molineux in the past three season achieving two wins and a draw. Who can forget last season's blockbuster Goal of the Season shot from Matheus Nunes (one of the few real contributions he made at the club!!) or the breakaway and shot from Pedro Neto in December 2020 to seal a 2-1 win against Frank Lampard's team? This weekend's match may well be a lot tougher considering the influx of talented players they had in the summer and their new Manager Mauricio Pochettino, but Wolves will no doubt be well prepared and readied for the challenge by Gary O'Neil and his team.
Much of the pre-match news has been about the availability of Pedro Neto who has apparently been out of the training pitch this week and may well have a role in the game at some point. Certainly his pace and effectiveness have been missed in recent games, particularly at West Ham when Hee Chan Hwang was played on the right wing and was totally ineffective out there. Much improvement will be hoped for by fans following that game, where poor marking allowed the Hammers to score three times. The question persists on when Sasa Kaladjzic will get a chance to show his worth, although it appears that ship has already sailed for our other striker Fabio Silva.
The match will be screened by Sky TV with a kick off time of 1pm. Our referee will be David Coote with John Brooks on VAR Duty.
This board will hope to provide regular updates on the progress of the game for those unable to follow it live, whilst members and visitors are encouraged to post their own observations and join in the conversation.
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StumbleuponMatch Thread: Wolves vs Chelsea FC
Discussion started by Wolves , 23/12/2023 20:29
Wolves
23/12/2023 20:29
23/12/2023 20:29
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:01:16:20:16:51 by Cheshire wolf.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:01:16:20:16:51 by Cheshire wolf.
Have a great Christmas everyone and let's hope for a positive result today today to bring some early cheer.
Yes Lupy, Happy Christmas to everybody who contributes and / or reads this website!!
Wolves have, it seems a once in a generation opportunity to provide us all with an early christmas present and this close to the big day ...... everything crossed, I think we'll need the rub today but no reason why we can't put on a Spurs / Man City performance to expunge the more recent efforts!!
Personally, I have no problem with the Christmas Eve fixture, it used to happen all the time, having said that I'll be in the pub 200 yards from my house!!
UP THE WOLVES!!
Wolves have, it seems a once in a generation opportunity to provide us all with an early christmas present and this close to the big day ...... everything crossed, I think we'll need the rub today but no reason why we can't put on a Spurs / Man City performance to expunge the more recent efforts!!
Personally, I have no problem with the Christmas Eve fixture, it used to happen all the time, having said that I'll be in the pub 200 yards from my house!!
UP THE WOLVES!!
Team out!!
Wolves make two changes to the side who were beaten 3-0 at West Ham in their previous match.
Goalkeeper Jose Sa is back in between the sticks while Rayan Ait-Nouri is back in the defence.
Wolves XI: Sa, Ait-Nouri, Lemina, Gomes, Hee-Chan, Cunha, Dawson, Sarabia, Semedo, Kilman, Toti.
Subs: Bentley, Doherty, Bueno, Buneo, Kalajdzic, Doyle, Barnett, Chirewa, Hesketh.
Wolves make two changes to the side who were beaten 3-0 at West Ham in their previous match.
Goalkeeper Jose Sa is back in between the sticks while Rayan Ait-Nouri is back in the defence.
Wolves XI: Sa, Ait-Nouri, Lemina, Gomes, Hee-Chan, Cunha, Dawson, Sarabia, Semedo, Kilman, Toti.
Subs: Bentley, Doherty, Bueno, Buneo, Kalajdzic, Doyle, Barnett, Chirewa, Hesketh.
Some less than well known names on the bench and no Fabio ..... likely to preempt a big cheerio from Molineux?
Bench looks weak not much there today, is the bug going through the camp maybe? Anyway let's hope for the best, merry Christmas everyone.
No Neto available on the bench despite all the anticipation! And not too many attacking options on there either so not too much to be confident about.
Merry Christmas everyone and let's hope for more good things in 2024
Merry Christmas everyone and let's hope for more good things in 2024
Belleguarde is also missing from today’s squad due to illness. A couple of excellent defensive interceptions already in the area by Lemina and Nelson.
Gusto puts a good ball across our area but fluffed by Broja. Our defence is being tested regularly but managing well so far. Corner to Chelsea, then another which Sterling passes to Jose. RAN goes down for treatment showing concern for his left ankle which he hurt at Fulham. Seems OK to continue
Semedo is up to the challenge from Sterling who as usual goes down at every opportunity. Soft free kick against Lemina after a good challenge. Gallagher gets a shot away but blocked
Free kick to Wolves ten yds out put into touch by Pablo. Good play into Chelsea box but RAN goes offside. Lemina stops Sterling but foul given just outside our area & a yellow card for Mario. Sterling takes free kick and puts it over the bar.
RAN goes on a great run until tripped by Gallagher on the edge of their area & he also gets a yellow card. Pablo & Mario looking to take the free kick, Pablo on target until deflected by the wall for a corner. Hugely important save by Sa after Joao loses the ball to Sterling who would have been expected to score.
Palmer puts a pot shot over the bar. Mario Lemina is having an immense game in midfield - just has to be careful not to get another yellow card. Great ball from Joao for Nelson to chase put out by goalie. Mario sets up Hwang but he can’t sort his feet out to convert, but gets a corner. RAN gets another corner which Daws gets on the end of but it goes out.
Pablo’s shot deflected for a corner. Hwang set free by Nelson but he puts it over the bar - best Wolves opportunity of the half so far. Two added minutes to play. Jose drops a free kick which is floated in but regains it, then Palmer gets a corner, before the whistle goes for half time.
Some good action from both teams in the half and opportunities for both, which we would expect Chelsea to have taken better advantage of really, especially when Sterling was through one on one with Jose Sa, but couldn’t beat him. Hwang put our best chance over the bar with a snatched shot.
Wolves 0 Chelsea 0
Some good action from both teams in the half and opportunities for both, which we would expect Chelsea to have taken better advantage of really, especially when Sterling was through one on one with Jose Sa, but couldn’t beat him. Hwang put our best chance over the bar with a snatched shot.
Wolves 0 Chelsea 0
No changes as we restart. Mix up in the Chelsea defence & Joao gets a shot away which is deflected for a corner. Great save by Petrovic to deny a Toti header.
Wolves break and Hwang gets another corner and Mario Lemina heads in Pablo’s corner
Wolves 1 Chelsea 0
Wolves 1 Chelsea 0
Cunha capitalises on a defensive error & feeds Hwang but he slips in the area. Corner to Wolves which Mario collects and gets a good shot away but well taken by Petrovic.
Mix up between Nelson & Max gifts the ball to Jackson but he fails to get a shot away before Sa collects. Palmer kicks the ball away & gets a yellow card. Mudryk coming on Broja & Nkunku on for Ugochukwu.
Gusto kicks the ball away after conceding a throw in and also gets a yellow card. Sterling tussles with Toti and goes down in the area but Toti gets the verdict. Jackson gets a yellow card for kicking the ball away. Joao shoots but no power.
Havoc in Wolves area and Toti clears off the line from Gusto. Good play from Chelsea to set up Sterling and his shot is brilliantly blocked by Dawson, who is down hurt. Cunha was booked for a foul earlier. Guo Guangchang our owner in present today
Gusto misses the ball, backpass from RAN and Cunha takes a snap shot which is just wide. Wolves giving the ball away cheaply, but still defending well. Triple change for Chelsea with Colwill Gusto & Jackson going off.
Into the final ten minutes of normal time. Excellent tackle by Joao then Doyle brings a save out of Petrovic. Great pressing by Toti & RAN. It’s almost as though our commentator Seb Hutchison wants Chelsea to score listening to him!!
Doc and Hugo prepared to come on for Cunha - who once again has been everywhere on the pitch - and RAN whose had a good game too.
Wolves take their tenth corner!! Fancy foot play from Chelsea until Palmer removed from the ball by Bueno. As expected eleven added minutes after Dawson injury plus substitutions.
And Doc scores his first PL goal after rejoining Wolves after great play up left side by Joao and Hugo.
Wolves 2 Chelsea 0
Wolves 2 Chelsea 0
Nkuku converts a Sterling cross with a header into the corner
Wolves 2 Chelsea 1
Wolves 2 Chelsea 1
Sterling goes over in the area and gets a booking for simulation after a challenge by Joao, and he’ll miss their next game as well as Palmer. Hugo booked for a challenge on Madueku. Into the last minute of added time.
Mario Lemina is Man of the Match after a super display and a crucial goal. Hwang breaks but fails. Final whistle goes and another superb win for Wolves against a very expensive team!! A difficult last ten minutes when sadly we conceded our clean sheet, but an extremely strong performance from our team to give all Wolves fans a Merry Christmas seeing our club move up to level points with Chelsea and in 11th place. Great to see Doc take a great goal again for Wolves too.
Wolves 2 Chelsea 1
Wolves 2 Chelsea 1
As was said, lots of players missing from the bench. Neto presumably not yet ready but also no Fabio, Bellegarde or Boubacar. Must be the illness from last week going round. Big improvement on the last three performances but not too impressed with the first quarter. Got better though and a decent second half. Lemina was excellent, Semedo was good and Gomes had a good second half. Bueno very good for Doherty's goal. Not sure how bad Dawson's injury is, never looks good when a stretcher is called but don't know if it was used so fingers crossed, certainly don't want to lose him. We needed an improvement on last week and got one. Happy Christmas everyone.
What a thoroughly exciting and absorbing match, real edge of the seat stuff with a superb final score! 7 of the Ivybridge Wolves crowd in the pub out shouting and out supporting the present Chelsea mob, a bit like the effort of the team who gave everything today. Was it easy to watch, not always, but hats off to the Wolves players for their commitment to the cause. Loads of errors on both sides, however when we scored it was totally deserved. For me at least! The Doc’s winner was the icing on the christmas cake but as we know, in true Wolves style, we concede to make the final 6 minutes of added time ‘intersting’!
Bottom line, terrific 3 points ….. what a great present for us all! So entertaining.
UTW and merry Christmas !
Bottom line, terrific 3 points ….. what a great present for us all! So entertaining.
UTW and merry Christmas !
Great 3 points, rode our luck a little at times but think we just about deserved it.
Lemina was on fire today, but everybody put a shift in I thought.
Nice to get a win for Christmas, all the best everyone enjoy Christmas!
Lemina was on fire today, but everybody put a shift in I thought.
Nice to get a win for Christmas, all the best everyone enjoy Christmas!
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