Chelsea have ended a five-game winless run in the Premier League, beating Wolverhampton 3-1 to move above Newcastle and Manchester City into fourth place.
Tosin Adarabioyo put the home side ahead after 24 minutes on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) when he scored from close range after a Reece James shot was deflected into his path six metres from goal.
It was his third goal in three games after a recent double in the FA Cup against Morecambe.
Wolves were on the back foot for most of the first half, but grabbed an equaliser in stoppage time with the help of a mistake by Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez.
Amid a flurry of pushing and shoving, Sanchez dropped a corner kick at the feet of Matt Doherty, who stabbed the ball home from a metre out.
However, a revamped Chelsea, with James making a first league start since November 3 and Trevoh Chalobah impressing after his unexpected recall from loan club Crystal Palace, were too strong for a Wolves side winless in four league games.
Marc Cucurella made it 2-1 when he chested down a cross from the right and bundled the ball into the net on the hour mark.
Five minutes later, Chalobah’s goal-bound header was helped on by Noni Madueke as Chelsea put the game beyond doubt.
Madueke said he apologised to Chalobah for nicking his goal, but defended his “attacker’s instinct” for being in the right place at the right time to make sure the ball crossed the line.
He also paid tribute to his teammate for showing what he called “leadership, character (and) bravery on the ball”.
“He slotted in seamlessly, so I am delighted for him,” Madueke said. “It is no coincidence with players like him and Reece (James) back in we won the game.”
Doherty, meanwhile, lamented his team’s poor defending at set pieces
“You have to want the ball to come to you, or you have to want to attack it,” he said.
“We need to start putting our head in where it hurts and defending set pieces with an ‘over my dead body’ attitude.
“Against every team in the Premier League you have to be on it for 90 minutes, and I just thought tonight there were too many times where we weren’t on it.”
Chelsea move on to 40 points, two clear of Newcastle and Manchester City and four behind Arsenal and Nottingham Forest. Liverpool top the table with 50 points.
Wolves remains in 17th spot, one above the relegation zone but equal on points with 18th-placed Ipswich.
● Chelsea back in top four after ending winless run by beating Wolves
Chelsea climbed back into the Premier League’s top four with a 3-1 victory over Wolves at Stamford Bridge to end a five-game winless run.
It had looked like being the same old story for Enzo Maresca’s team when, at the end of a half they had dominated, goalkeeper Robert Sanchez blundered at a corner and allowed Matt Doherty to wipe out the lead given to them in the 24th minute by Tosin Adarabioyo.
It was another first-half lead squandered just as in games recently against Fulham, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, but whereas seven points had previously been dropped from winning positions, this time Chelsea found their bite after the break to see off Wolves.
Marc Cucurella restored the lead, scoring as he had done the last time his side won in the league on December 15, then Noni Madueke quickly headed a third to prevent any late nerves.
For the first time in his tenure, Maresca’s selection was significantly affected by injuries.
Enzo Fernandez, Romeo Lavia and Levi Colwill were all ruled out, with the situation compounded by the longer-term absences of Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile.
It meant a full league debut in blue for Kieran Dewsbury-Hall, while Reece James returned for his first start since early November. Trevoh Chalobah, recalled early from his loan at Crystal Palace, was also thrown in and was welcomed back in full voice by home fans.
Chelsea’s barren run had been marked by early dominance of opponents with too little to show in return.
After 20 minutes here they had completed 35 passes in the final third compared with Wolves’ two, but all they really had to show was a low drive by Cole Palmer from the edge of the box, pushed to safety by Jose Sa.
Home fans were given an anxious wait to learn whether their team had taken the lead in the 25th minute.
James, fresh from his stoppage-time free-kick that rescued a point against Bournemouth, blasted goalwards as the ball dropped to him from a corner, his effort deflecting to Tosin who was shown by VAR to have been fractionally onside.
The defender turned and whacked in his third goal of 2025 to ease home supporters’ nerves.
It was, worryingly for Wolves boss Vitor Pereira, the 18th goal his side had conceded in the league from a set piece, seven more than any other team in the division.
Yet in the final minute of the half, it was Sanchez in Chelsea’s goal who showed ineptitude at a corner, fumbling the ball out of two hands against the back of Moises Caicedo and into the path of Doherty who stabbed Wolves level.
Right on the hour, Chelsea retook the lead. Madueke’s inswinging cross from the right received the faintest flick from Dewsbury-Hall, enough to carry it onto the chest of Cucurella who reached out a leg to force it beyond Sa.
Thereafter it was plainer sailing. From a Palmer free-kick, Madueke turned the ball home from on the goal-line, denying Chalobah a dream return with the defender’s header having seemingly been destined for the net.
For Wolves, make that 19 set-piece goals conceded, and a precarious placement above the relegation zone on goal difference only. [With AP reports]
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