Chelsea Football Club began a new era under the soon-to-be ownership of American billionaire Todd Boehly by playing out a 2-2 draw with visiting Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon.
The Blues were looking to bounce back from their disappointing defeat to Everton last time out, as they sought to put out the visitors in order to lay a strong hold on third place on the Premier League standings. Thomas Tuchel’s men began brightly and had two goals from Timo Werner and Ruben Loftus-Cheek chalked off correctly for offside, as the opening half ended goalless.
The second half saw the floodgates of goals opened. First it was Belgian hitman Romelu Lukaku netting his first PL goal since December 2021 when he converted a 56th minute penalty, after he was brought down by Roman Saiss. Two minutes later, it was 2-0 as Lukaku got his second of the afternoon and 14th for the season, after he found the back of the net when put through by Christian Pulisic.
Second half substitute Francisco Trincao halved the deficit for Wolves to set up a nervy finale and they duly got their equalizer through Conor Coady who struck in the seventh minute of injury time as both teams got a share of the points on the day when soon-to-be owner Todd Boehly was present at Stamford Bridge along with some members of his consortium.
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FULL-TIME AT STAMFORD BRIDGE: Chelsea 2-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
90+7′ MIN: Drama at the death! Chiquinho showcases his great technique and produces a beautiful lofted cross into the box. Conor Coady meets the cross and gets himself onto the scoresheet with a header down into the middle of the net.
GOOOAAALLL!!! Chelsea 2-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers (C. Coady)
79′ MIN: Trincao weaves his way past opponents, and he unleashes a magnificent effort from the edge of the box inside the left post. Edouard Mendy had no chance of reaching it.
GOOOAAALLL!!! Chelsea 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers (F. Trincao)
58′ MIN: Christian Pulisic passes to Romelu Lukaku who collects the ball and unleashes a terrific shot from the edge of the box. His effort goes into the bottom right corner. Fabulous goal!
GOOOAAALLL!!! Chelsea 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers (R. Lukaku)
56′ MIN: That’s a great strike from the spot by Romelu Lukaku low into the left of the net, giving goalkeeper Jose Sa no chance!
GOOOAAALLL!!! Chelsea 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers (R. Lukaku)
54′ MIN: Referee Peter Bankes makes the VAR signal and is going to check whether it’s a penalty. Let’s see what happens! Here comes the VAR decision: PENALTY to Chelsea!
52′ MIN: Penalty claims by the Chelsea players, after Romelu Lukaku is fouled by Wolves defender Roman Saiss.
PENALTY!!! To Chelsea
SECOND HALF UNDERWAY AT STAMFORD BRIDGE: Chelsea 0-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
HALF-TIME AT STAMFORD BRIDGE: Chelsea 0-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
38′ MIN: Ruben Loftus-Cheek turns the ball home at the back post but after a lengthy VAR check, it has been disallowed.
34′ MIN: Timo Werner has the ball in the net but it has been ruled out, due to a foul in the build-up.
KICK-OFF AT STAMFORD BRIDGE: Chelsea 0-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
As for the visitors, they have also made three changes from their 3-0 loss to Brighton and Hove Albion last time out. Full-back Nelson Semedo is injured, with Fabio Silva and Hwang Hee-chan settling for a spot on the bench, while the trio of Pedro Neto, Raul Jimenez and Jonny all come into the team.
Club-record striker Romelu Lukaku is back in the Chelsea team in one of three changes made by manager Thomas Tuchel, following their 1-0 defeat by Everton. Christian Pulisic and Mateo Kovacic also come in the starting XI, with Jorginho out injured while Mason Mount and Kai Havertz both drop to the bench.
Preview:
Chelsea fans started today with the news that the club has agreed terms on the £4.25bn ($5.2bn) sale to a consortium led by Todd Boehly, co-owner of the LA Dodgers baseball team.
The club was put up for sale before owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned for his alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine.
A Chelsea statement said the new owners will pay £2.5bn for the club’s shares. The proceeds will go into a frozen bank account to be donated to charity.
The consortium said it will provide £1.75bn to invest in the Premier League club, including “investments in Stamford Bridge, the academy, the women’s team and Kingsmeadow and continued funding for the Chelsea Foundation”.
In the statement, Chelsea said the sale was expected to complete in late May. The takeover will require approval from the English football authorities and the UK government.
Apex Football News 