Wolverhampton Wanderers secured a much-needed 1-0 victory over Chelsea this afternoon as they managed to ruin Frank Lampard’s return to the dugout.
Julen Lopetegui’s side were chasing their first win since the start of March and facing a Chelsea team who are struggling, making it the perfect opportunity to claim all three points.
Despite having just 38% possession, the Old Gold had four shots on target throughout and Matheus Nunes scored what turned out to be the match-winning goal after half an hour.
The Molineux outfit had to weather a storm in the second half, but they held out for a wonderful victory that vaults them up to 12th spot in the Premier League table.
Not everyone was in good form today, however, with a couple of players letting Lopetegui down massively with their disappointing showings – most notably Diego Costa, who failed to score against his former team.
How did Diego Costa play against Chelsea?
The striker was largely ineffective, having just one shot on target during his 63-minute spell on the pitch, and even then, he struck it straight into Kepa’s hands.
Since arriving at Wolves back in September on a free transfer, Costa has been disappointing. Across 17 matches in all competitions, the forward has failed to score or even grab an assist, and it is looking increasingly likely that his spell at the club will end at the conclusion of the campaign.
This afternoon, he yet again struggled in front of goal, missing one big chance, failing to attempt a dribble and making zero key passes.
In fact, the 34-year-old managed to complete just eight passes during the tie and took only 21 touches, which was fewer than Jose Sa in the Wolves goal, who had 31 in total.
So often his greatest strength, Costa’s physicality let him down today as he won just two duels out of ten and his performance has led to criticism, with writer Ifreke Inyang claiming that the striker “needs to retire” – and on this display, he might not be that far off.
Thankfully for the Molineux faithful, Lopetegui has assembled a team that is still capable of winning tight matches like this even if there are a few poor performances – and the game today was evidence of this.
We feel Costa has had one bad game too many, and with a crucial few weeks ahead, it is hard to see how he gets back into the starting XI after this latest display.
