Chelsea's miserable Premier League season continued on Sunday as they fell to a 2-1 Christmas Eve defeat against Wolves at Molineux.
Midfielder Mario Lemina headed the home side in front in the 51st minute before substitute Matt Doherty added a second in injury-time.
There was still time for Chelsea substitute Christopher Nkunku to head home on his Premier League debut but it was to prove only a consolation as Wolves held on for a deserved three points.
“The change was very important because I managed to nick a goal at the end. I've been doing that all my career, being in the right place at the right time so I just put it away,” Doherty said to Sky Sports.
“The kind of atmosphere that's generated around the stadium. Our record against top six teams is good. We've beaten most of them here and away. We're doing really well.”
It was Chelsea's eighth defeat in 18 league games this season that leaves them 10th in the table, 14 points behind fourth-place Tottenham Hotspur and 18 shy of leaders Arsenal.
They have also now lost four of their last six games and no side has been defeated more in Premier League matches than Chelsea's 19 in 2023.
There will need to be a big improvement if they want a return to any sort of European football next campaign – they are seven points off qualification for the Europa Conference League, which, even at this early stage, looks like the best Chelsea can hope for.
“We feel very disappointed because I think we deserve much more,” said manager Mauricio Pochettino. “This competition wounds you when you are not clinical enough. We created chances. That is why it is so disappointing. We conceded after a few corners and it was really difficult.”
Chelsea will look back ruefully at one glorious opportunity that fell to Raheem Sterling in the first half with scores still level.
Sterling found himself clean through on goal after nicking the ball off Joao Gomes 40 yards out, but fired straight at Jose Sa, when a simple sqaure pass to Cole Palmer would have handed his teammate an open goal.
That chance had come not long after Sterling had picked out Nicolas Jackson with a perfect cross across the box only for the Senegalese attacker to allow the ball to roll under his foot when a first-time finish was needed.
Jackson had another chance after the break but could not sort his feet out, losing his balance before he could get his shot away.
The 22-year-old's already clearly fragile confidence would have taken another heavy blow when his substitution was met with cheers by the away supporters.
“We were talking a lot at the beginning of the season,” said Pochettino when asked about the missed chances. “We are young in age. It is a young team. We have players playing for the first time in the league. They need to adapt. It is confidence and about quality.
“We need to score if we want to win the games. We are very disappointed. Sometimes we have to keep a clean sheet if we cannot score. We conceded too many corners. We need to keep going and pushing. Young teams learn from this sort of game.”
