KARL WHITEHOUSE SHARES HIS PLAYER RATINGS FOR WOLVES VICTORY OVER CHELSEA
Josa Sa – 7
Didn’t have much in the way of shot stopping in the game today with his positional play not too bad hardly had much to do despite having two goals go into the back of net which he was clearly annoyed.
Max Kilman – 7
Was tasked to keep Sterling quiet in the game where he matched stride for stride in the game on the Chelsea wing keeping it nice and tight. Produced some good clearances in the game and kept Chilwell out of the game too.
Craig Dawson – 7
Produced some very good blocks in the game and to deny Nkunku a goal, this set the tone for the rest of the game didn’t have many problems at all.
Toti Gomes – 7
Questions after his performance against Manchester United should he play or not but today he started not too good as Cole Palmer was causing him problems, but soon put it right keeping him closer marked stopping him having another goal after his early strike in the game.
Nelson Semedo – 7
Got a yellow card in this game which was a worry with the runs he does but he did stretch our play and even tucked inside to allow the frontline freedom to play at will.
Rayan Ait Nouri – 8
Came into side in place of Doherty, known for causing problems to defenders with his runs. He did create the second goal to put Wolves into the lead of the game as Chelsea deflected his hot into their own goal, Rayan didn’t make many mistakes and knew when to play inside or out.
Mario Lemina – 7
Played his usual game where he didn’t shy away from any challenges on the Chelsea players, but he did break up the attacks Chelsea tried to get towards the Wolves goal.
Joao Gomes – 8
Came into the side in place of Tommy Doyle who has played well since Gomes’ suspension, from his red card in the cup, put in a good shift in the game winning the ball back well carrying out the tasks needed for the game and produced a good assist to Cunha to get the equaliser for Wolves after going behind. He was superb, doing the tasks needed at the right time and covered majority of the pitch.
Pablo Sarabia – 7.5
Came into the side replacing Bellegarde had his chances in the game and could have scored a goal which he did deserve only hitting the side netting but looked comfortable in the front 3.
Mathues Cunha – 10 (Player of the match)
People will be saying why did we pay this amount for him but with this performance today his value showed. Taking a brilliant hat trick to become the 2nd Wolves player to do so in the Premier League with it being the first one away from home. His positional play today was excellent in all parts of the pitch, Chelsea couldn’t cope with him he was unplayable.
Pedro Neto – 9
Playing in the Wolves front three starting centrally at the beginning of the game then went to the wing to create more space for his teammates. He produced another brilliant performance after coming back from injury with his brilliant runs at the defenders which will make his valuation go up in the summer . Pedro causes opposition teams problems but he had to be careful for rest of game with his yellow card but had no issues after that.
Substitutes
Tommy Doyle – 6
Came on to replace Sarabia to boost the midfield numbers to make it tighter and change the formation to a midfield 3 hardly had much to do but was needed there to keep a nice shape.
Jean Ricner Bellegarde – 5
Came on in place of Neto to save him for the next game and not risk getting any serious injury which we can’t afford to lose at this stage of the season. He had a couple of chances in the game to put more on the scoreline.
Hugo Bueno N/A
Came on for Rayan Ait Nouri who had a good game coming back into side and didn’t do much just to shore up the defence when needed.
Matt Doherty N/A
Came on for Joao Gomes to make the defence tight for the 10 minutes injury time played had no issues in that time.
Manager
Gary O’Neil – 9
ProduceD a masterstroke today with the team changes bringing in 3 changes to the squad which was needed to give some fresh legs where it was needed and this dictated the play in the whole game where Chelsea couldn’t cope with the counter attacks Wolves did in the whole game for the first win there since 1979 and first league double over them since the 1974-1975 season.
ARTICLE BY KARL WHITEHOUSE
I’ve been a Wolves fan for over 30 years, supporting them at both home and away games in the 80s, 90s, and 00s. Now, I enjoy delving into the stats behind the games they play in the Premier League and also looking at other stats if someone asks on the podcast. I’ve also visited all 92 football league grounds and will soon be creating an ebook about people’s favourite matches they’ve attended, complete with a match report and, if possible, stats from the game.