Chelsea Throw Away Excellence, Lose Painfully At Wolves Home

Pedro Neto (right) fires a shot to score the winner over Chelsea (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Chelsea threw away their advantage and suffered a painful 1-2 defeat at Wolverhampton headquarters, Molineux Stadium, in Week 13 of the Premier League on Tuesday local time (Wednesday WIB).

Kurt Zouma's good chance to give Chelsea the lead at the end of the first half against the crossbar, as if it was a sign of bad luck for Frank Lampard's team.

Those worries were erased four minutes into the second half, when Olivier Giroud put Chelsea ahead with a volley on Ben Chilwell's lure.

Goalkeeper Rui Patricio anticipated, but the ball was confirmed to have crossed the goal line and was confirmed as a goal.

However, the lead vanished in the 66th minute, when Daniel Podence fired hard past defender Reece James and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to find the net for the visitors.

In the 81st minute referee Stuart Attwell awarded the hosts a penalty after Pedro Neto crashed for the ball with James, but after consulting VAR he overturned the decision.

The bad luck that occurred at the end of the first half for Chelsea again broke out in the fifth minute of injury time, when a counter-attack was ended with a powerful shot by Neto that tricked Mendy and ensured Wolverhampton won 2-1 over their visitors.

The result not only hindered Chelsea's hopes of feeling back on top, but also swallowed two successive defeats after last weekend they also lost at home to Everton.

Chelsea stuck in fifth in the standings with a collection of 22 points, while Wolverhampton (20) jumped to 10th place, Antara noted on the official Premier League website.

The two teams are back on the field next Monday for the 14th round when Chelsea host West Ham United at Stamford Bridge and Wolverhampton travel to Burnley's base at Turf Moor.