Wolves Fans' Verdict v Chelsea: What a superb performance!

Clive Smith

Those were the days my friend. That's the Wolves we know and love. Frustrating at times, lacking in pace at times, losing a rubbish goal but then, dig in, good energy, finding space and two peachy goals.

So nice to gobble up another 'top-six' side. Results like this... that's why we bother. And to think, some people wondered where our next win was coming from.

I wonder if it had anything to do with five at the back? The first half was typical Molineux fare, the sort where people are off for their hot chocolate well before the 45th minute.

We continue to look vulnerable down our right, Boly was beaten for pace and didn't jump well while defending crosses. Semedo continues to make us nervous. Retaining possession in attack was hard but we had sufficient exchanges of passes with neat triangles to offer hope.

All the good work of the half counted for nothing within five minutes of the interval. Boly slow to react at the near post as we conceded. Ironic then, that his quick reaction at the near post, in the attacking box, led to our equaliser which was due almost entirely to the quick feet of Podence.

The game suddenly became far more open. Neto came back into the game, Otasowie and Traore, on for the disappointing Dendoncker and tiring Silva, gave us a different look.

Although nervy to watch, and with the last weekend still painfully in mind, most of us would have been happy with the point. Worry not. With a move reminiscent of the Jota playbook, Neto got a thrilling winner.

All the talk about no Raul and our lack of goals, yet Podence and Neto have been our best two players this season. They showed that again and both could claim MOTM. Otasowie looked nervy initially but grew into the game the longer it went on.

The formation, organisation and patience were familiar attributes in an excellent result.

Adam Virgo

Excellent performance rewarded with a huge three points, fantastic response from the players and Nuno got his tactics spot on.

We started well without creating too much, playing some attractive football but as the first half went on, Chelsea grew into the game more and thankfully they didn’t punish us with the chances they had.

Giroud’s opener was avoidable, Semedo wasn’t anywhere near close enough to Chilwell for the cross and Boly was asleep, allowing the Frenchman to get his shot off far too easily. Good play from Giroud but I feel like we could have done more to stop it.

Silva coming off after 60 minutes at the time seemed questionable but purely because having a front three of wingers in Neto, Podence and Adama against Liverpool really didn’t work. Silva didn’t do too bad, it’s always going to be tough up against Thiago Silva and Zouma but the 18 year old produced some nice link up at times.

Podence and Neto once again were incredible and our star players so far this season. Two pieces of individual brilliance from them to get us back into the game first of all and then to win it late on.

The fakes from Podence got him some space and although there was a slight deflection on the way, it was still a good strike. The winner was a fantastic counter from us, Vitinha in a good position to receive the ball and give it to Neto quickly, the burst of pace past Zouma and then the exquisite strike past Mendy, beautiful.

A big call at half time from Nuno too which paid dividends with Otasowie coming on for his Premier League debut. I presume Dendoncker had a knock but Nuno could have easily moved Saiss into the middle if he wanted, however with Otasowie it was a brilliant decision because he was fantastic.

One of our best performances this season, individual brilliance, back to the 3-4-3 formation and looking more defensively solid.

I do think 3-4-3 is much better for us, however we have the option of going to 4-2-3-1 in some games where it’s needed. Personally I’d stay with three/five at the back for Monday to begin with and keep the same starting XI except for Otasowie in place of Dendoncker.

Rob Cartwright

Phew. The overwhelming feeling is one of relief, after our recent results.

This was a dogged Wolves performance, with lots of positives to take forward.

No arguments with the starting eleven, again, though reverting to three at the back did enable a more attack minded approach. A typically conservative first half saw us go in 0-0. No shock that Chelsea had the lion's share of possession, but we actually had achieved more shots on goal and corners at this point. Chelsea had hit the bar.

The second half didn’t go to plan initially.

Chelsea came out with greater energy and scored after a few minutes. I thought Rui had saved, but technology showed the ball was over the line. It could have gone horribly wrong from here but, from somewhere, Wolves found belief and more attacking desire.

A significant change had been made with Otasowie replacing Dendoncker to make his league debut. He has done his future chances no harm at all with an assured display. He saw lots of the ball and used it well. He likes to go forward and assisted by giving our attacks some urgency. Indeed, he was in the Chelsea box and headed to Podence for the equaliser. Podence showed great quality to score with plenty of defenders in the box too.

We managed to get on top in the game and it looked like we would run out of time in searching for the winner. In added time, with Chelsea also looking for a winner, it was a classic Wolves counter-attack which saw us get from box to box in a few seconds.

Vitinha passed to Neto who took on three Chelsea defenders. I was worried that he may cross for Traore in the box, but thankfully he cut to the left and shot from a tight angle. A great goal.

A draw would have been a fair result, but we’ll take the late winner just like Villa did on Saturday. I thought Neto and Podence were excellent. We need to get them on the ball more as they have the skills and pace to hurt even the best teams. Podence was my Man of the Match. I thought Saiss played well again. Otasowie looks very promising. Neves is frustrating me greatly. Generally too slow with passes going astray and often backwards. If he could find his mojo it would give Wolves a massive uplift.

Burnley away next. We owe them one, after last season.

Russ Evers

Oh how the pundits cried - all the post match chat about 'how Chelsea lost the game; rather than how Wolves won it. And that was simple - more shots on goal and more clinical.

Chelsea's only real shot on target (expertly done by Giroud) squirmed through the keepers hands and had to be awarded by goalline technology whilst we were denied a penalty by VAR and had a goal disallowed too.

Everything stemmed from us starting to play on the front foot and we rarely looked backwards once Chelsea had taken the lead. Podence and Neto were excellent and everyone played their part in stifling a team that could have gone top with a win.

For the last 30 minutes this was the Wolves of the last two seasons - no stupid and costly errors and some probing, quick runs that many sides have failed to cope with. A great win.