THERE was little pre-Christmas cheer for Chelsea fans as the Blues went down to a fourth straight away defeat at Wolves this afternoon.
Television schedulers decreed Mauricio Pochettino’s side should travel north to Molineux on Christmas Eve and the huge away following who headed to the West Midlands probably wish they hadn’t bothered.
Chelsea squandered a host of chances in the opening period and were punished for their wastefulness six minutes after the restart when Mario Lemina headed the hosts in front.
Woeful defending gifted Wolves and Matt Doherty a second in the third of 11 added minutes.
There was still time for Christopher Nkunku to pull one back with five minutes still to play, but Wolves ran down the clock for a deserved success.
As for the Blues and Pochettino, it was an all too familiar story in what is turning out to be another underwhelming campaign.
The manager told Sky Sports: “We feel very disappointed because I think we deserved much more, but this competition will punish you when you are not clinical.
“I think in the first half we deserved the credit and we deserved to score but we were not clinical enough.
“We created chances and we had the possession. We didn’t concede one shot on target to Wolves.
“That is why it is so disappointing because in the first 45 minutes I think we should go with a different result.
“The second half we conceded after a few corners and that is why afterwards it was really difficult.”
Chelsea have now missed more clearcut opportunities than any other Premier League side this campaign, although Poch doesn’t believe it is simply a matter of a lack of confidence in front of goal.
“No,” said the SW6 manager.
“I think we’ve talked a lot from the beginning of the season – it is a group of players that we are a young team. That doesn’t mean that we are young in age.
“It is a young team and yes, too many players are for the first time are in the Premier League.
“They need to build a run in the Premier League and they need to feel the adaptation.
“Of course it is about confidence, it is about quality of course – it is about too many things.
“We should have scored and if we want to win the games now it is difficult because after the game we always feel very disappointed.
“It is about sometimes in this type of game if you don’t score we need to keep pushing.
“I am disappointed also because in the first five minutes of the second half we conceded too many corners and we concede the goal.
“We are a young team that need to learn from these games.
“Of course we all feel disappointed because we are in position which Chelsea should not there, but that is a different Chelsea.”
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