Eden Hazard's stoppage-time goal saves a point versus Wolves
Chelsea winger Eden Hazard is surrounded by Wolverhampton Wanderers players in a English Premier League fixture on March 10.
Wolverhampton Wanderers came to Stamford Bridge with a familiar tactical philosophy of a few former Chelsea Football Club managers on Sunday afternoon. The recently promoted club channeled its inner Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte and sat in its own final third, absorbing the pressure of the West London side. Eventually, Wolves ran on the counterattack and scored thanks to Mexican international Raul Jimenez. However, Wolves unwillingness to maintain possession gave Eden Hazard the chance to score the equalizer in stoppage time and split the points.
Too Many Touches
Chelsea suffered a case of déjà vu, maintaining possession — 61 percent today — throughout the match, but was unable to score enough goals to get the three points. Like in the 2-2 draw versus Manchester United in October 2018, the Blues were caught on the counterattack — despite having more total shots.
Manager Maurizio Sarri emphasized in the postgame press conference how his team’s useless possession proved ineffective versus the defensive discipline of Wolves.
The Italian changed the formation in hope of breaking through the defensive wall, leading to more pressure around Wolves goalkeeper Rui Patricio’s box. Sarri brought in Willian and Chelsea academy products Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi to spark some energy in the offensive push. Nonetheless, Wolves contained the home side until the breakthrough in the dying minutes of the match.
“Then at the end we changed the system for the first time to a 4-2-3-1,” Sarri said. “It’s not easy of course, the problem wasn’t the system but our way of playing. We need to move the ball faster. We cannot play with five or six touches, it’s very difficult to score. For the first time we were playing against a team who didn’t want to play. They didn’t counter-attack in the last 30 minutes so we had to try.”
Looking Ahead
The Blues return to Round of 16 Europa League action on Thursday where they face Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv. Chelsea won the first leg 3-0 at home on March 7 behind goals from Pedro, Willian and Callum Hudson-Odoi. A whopping 90 percent of sides to score three or more goals in the first leg of a Europa League knockout tie have progressed to the next round. However, Kyiv has progressed in the last two ties the club lost the first leg away in.
Kickoff is set for 1:55 p.m. at NSC Olimpiyskiy.