BEVERLY HILLS, December 15, (THEWILL) –Â Wolverhampton Wanderers needed something special against a reinvigorated Chelsea side already dreaming of going top of the table and that was what their hero on the night Pedro Neto provided in second-half stoppage time to help seal a 2-1 comeback win at the Molineux on Tuesday.
The drab nature of the first half belied the drama that was to unfold in the second period. The major highlight occurred right before the interval when Wolves escaped going behind as Chelsea centre back Kurt Zouma sent a towering header onto the crossbar.
Their good fortune did not carry into the second period. Four minutes after the restart, left back Ben Chilwell’s low delivery towards goal was met by attacker Olivier Giroud at the near post and Wolves’ keeper Rui Patricio was beaten by the Frenchman’s instinctive finish into the bottom-right corner.
Teenage forward Fabio Silva thought he had scored his first Premier League goal to level the scores for Wolves but it was struck out for offside.
The hosts had to wait until the 66th minute for an equaliser.
Substitute Owen Otasowie supplied the wily Daniel Podence the ball and shimmying past right back Reece James, Podence hit a lovely effort that took a slight deflection off a defender on its way into the back of the net.
When attacker Pedro Neto went to the ground under pressure from James and the referee pointed to the spot, the hosts saw a chance to clinch victory open up. However, a VAR review corrected the referee’s initial error and the opportunity passed.
But, Neto was not to be denied. The forward latched onto late substitute Vitinha’s pass on the counter, ran at Zouma and fired a pinpoint finish into the bottom-right corner in the 6th extra minute after regulation time. Chelsea’s rally for their own comeback failed to yield results.
Chelsea return to action in a London derby against West Ham on Monday, while Wolves go to Burnley the same day.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
