Chelsea bitten by the Wolves
Wolves’ win leaves Ancelotti ruing Chelsea’s form this season.
LONDON:
Chelsea were sent spinning to a shock 1-0 defeat at Wolves on Wednesday as the Premier League champions fell further behind in the title race and left manager Carlo Ancelotti clinging to his job.
An own goal by Jose Bosingwa after five minutes handed victory to Wolves as Chelsea’s miserable run of form – just one win in nine matches – continued.
“At this moment it’s very difficult to explain what’s happening to us,” a stunned Ancelotti told Sky Sports. “We have to keep going ... we have to stay focused more on the little details. Because the little details lose the game.”
In the battle for second place, Arsenal and Manchester City fought out a 0-0 stalemate. Arsenal dominated throughout but were unable to find their way through a City defence. The game ended on a sour note after Arsenal’s Bacary Sagna and City’s Pablo Zabaleta were given red cards after clashing on the touchline.
The other big headline of the night came when Blackburn piled the pressure on Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson with a 3-1 victory over the troubled Merseysiders. The result was virtually sealed by half-time, with Martin Olsson opening the scoring on 32 minutes before Benjani Mwaruwari doubled the lead six minutes later. Benjani rubbed salt into the wound with Blackburn’s third on 57 minutes.
Tottenham were unable to capitalise on Chelsea’s defeat as they crashed 2-1 at Everton. West Ham were given a brutal mauling at St James Park as Newcastle recorded a crushing 5-0 victory while Wigan drew 1-1 with Bolton.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2011.
Chelsea were sent spinning to a shock 1-0 defeat at Wolves on Wednesday as the Premier League champions fell further behind in the title race and left manager Carlo Ancelotti clinging to his job.
An own goal by Jose Bosingwa after five minutes handed victory to Wolves as Chelsea’s miserable run of form – just one win in nine matches – continued.
“At this moment it’s very difficult to explain what’s happening to us,” a stunned Ancelotti told Sky Sports. “We have to keep going ... we have to stay focused more on the little details. Because the little details lose the game.”
In the battle for second place, Arsenal and Manchester City fought out a 0-0 stalemate. Arsenal dominated throughout but were unable to find their way through a City defence. The game ended on a sour note after Arsenal’s Bacary Sagna and City’s Pablo Zabaleta were given red cards after clashing on the touchline.
The other big headline of the night came when Blackburn piled the pressure on Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson with a 3-1 victory over the troubled Merseysiders. The result was virtually sealed by half-time, with Martin Olsson opening the scoring on 32 minutes before Benjani Mwaruwari doubled the lead six minutes later. Benjani rubbed salt into the wound with Blackburn’s third on 57 minutes.
Tottenham were unable to capitalise on Chelsea’s defeat as they crashed 2-1 at Everton. West Ham were given a brutal mauling at St James Park as Newcastle recorded a crushing 5-0 victory while Wigan drew 1-1 with Bolton.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2011.