Could Wolves afford another defeat? Chelsea made sure they did
A bright start faded into another painful league loss for Wolverhampton Wanderers, whose fight for survival now looks ever more urgent.
Wolves had the early goal; Chelsea had the last word. At Molineux on Wednesday, a second-minute strike from Baltazar Šusterajter briefly made the leaders look vulnerable, but Chelsea came back to win 2-1 and leave Wolverhampton Wanderers nine points from safety with four league games played? No: with 34 games played, the arithmetic is stark enough without embellishment.
The preview in these pages said Chelsea would offer no rescue. For a moment, the home crowd could believe otherwise. Šusterajter drove low along the ground from close range to put Wolves ahead, giving a side short on league comfort a precious lift. The goal did not change the scale of the task, but it changed the sound of the afternoon.
Chelsea had to find their way back, and did so through Nacho Valera, whose high drive levelled the match in the 54th minute. The visitors had the greater share of the ball and more attempts, and Wolves’ goalkeeper Stacey Lines was called upon repeatedly. Yet the home side stayed in it until Rubén Medina, introduced in the 68th minute, struck low from close range to settle the contest in the 79th.
Medina’s goal made a telling difference in a game where Chelsea’s depth told. Lionel Messi had entered at half-time and helped shape the visitors’ second-half response; Medina came on and supplied the decisive finish. Wolves, by contrast, were left with Šusterajter’s brief burst of hope and another defeat to absorb.
There is no shame in losing to a Chelsea side top of the English Premier Division, now on 88 points from 32 games. But Wolves’ own position is plain: 20th, on 28 points, nine from safety.
Three days earlier, Wolves had beaten Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 in the UEFA Europa Conference League. That European night offered a different kind of possibility; Wednesday brought them back to the relentless business at home. The supporters who had roared the opening goal were left watching Chelsea carry off the points, and their team’s rescue remain a steep climb.