Premier League highlights: Chelsea seals Champions League qualification with win against Wolves

Catch the highlights of the 2019/20 Premier League match between Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers from Stamford Bridge.

Updated : Jul 26, 2020 23:46 IST

Olivier Giroud doubled Chelsea's lead against Wolves.
Olivier Giroud doubled Chelsea's lead against Wolves.
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Olivier Giroud doubled Chelsea's lead against Wolves.

 

 

FULL TIME Chelsea beats Wolves in the final game of the season and, coupled with Manchester United's win at Leicester City, the Blues finish in the top four and seal Champions League qualification next season. It was an easier-than-anticipated win for Frank Lampard's side but he will have no complaints.

A long, difficult season ends with a sixth home league win for Chelsea and top-tier European football sealed i the process. Click here to read the match report.

90' + 3' A chance for Abraham on the counter-attack but he shoots straight at Patricio with options to pass on either side of him. Catching practice for the kepper.

90' + 2' Azpilicueta fould Podence and that's a yellow card for the Chelsea skipper.

90' Four minutes at the end of the half.

89' Abraham's persistence at the corner flag sees Chelsea win a corner. James takes it and Abraham, off balance, heads it wide.

88'Final change for Chelsea. Barkley replaces Jorginho. That's the Englishman's 50th league appearance for Chelsea and 200th career league appearance.

85' Substutitions. Chelsea brings on Pedro and Ruben Lodtus-Cheek for Mount and Kovacic while Wolves's final change sees Jordao replace Jota.

83' Yellow card for Dendoncker. He brings down the striker at the halfway line to stop a counter and has no complaints after taking the booking.

79' Wolves makes a mess from a simple freekick. The ball falls to Mount who decides to shoot from 35 years out, with Abraham making a good run on the right. The shot is tame and rolls out without troubling Patricio.

78' Chelsea double substutition. Pulisic and Giroud are replaced by Tammy Abraham and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

77' Kovacic beats the offside trap on the left wing. He finds Pulisic who shoots well over after a 1-2 with Giroud.

74' Pulisic with a good run and he is stopped in his tracks by Coady on the edge of the Wolves box. Chelsea with a freekick. Alonso and James standing over the ball.

Alonso takes it and his shot is deflected for a corner.

72' Moutinho and Jota move the ball well to get to the final third. The final ball to Podence is well cut out by Zouma and Rudiger.

70' Alonso vs Traore again, but at the other end this time. Wolves hold on and the left-back is forced to turn back.

69' Kovacic and Traore clash. The ball is won fairly by the Chelsea midfielder but he is down, nursing his hamstring. The Croatian is back on his feet slowly.

67' Elsewhere, Bruno Fernandes has scored from the spot and Manchester United has taken the lead against Leicester.

66' Traore is playing as a right-wing back since the triple substutition. He finally has a chance to run down the right wing but Kovacic helps out Alonso and he overruns the ball for a goal-kick.

And we go to the drinks break!

62' Kovacic is brought down by Moutinho and Chelsea win s afreekick in its half. The referee talks to the Portuguese midfielder but there's no card this time.

60' An hour gone and Chelsea in controll the game right now.

58'Triple substutition for Wolves. Joao Moutinho, Ruben Vinagre and Daniel Podence come on for Doherty, Neves and Jonny.

57' Jota finds space just outside the box to shoot the it is too close to Caballero and the goalkeeper holds on to it. That is Wolves' first shot on target this game.

54' Chelsea goes close to a third goal! Mount escapes the offside trap and finds Pulisic but Boly’s last-ditch tackle prevents the American from pulling the trigger.

51' Elsewhere, Schlupp has scored and Crystal Palace is back on level terms with Tottenham Hotspur.

50' A good spell of possession for Chelsea ends with James' cross for Giroud being cut out by Coady.

46' The Blues with the possession early on which ends when Neves brings down Giroud. Freekick to Chelsea. Reece James tries to run past Traore but doesn't succeed and the attack ends there.

46' Chelsea gets the final 45 minutes of this season underway. As it stands, Chelsea finishes third and qualifies for the Champions League. Can the Blues hold on for what could a very crucial win? Halftime substitution for Wolves: Traore replaces Neto.

HALFTIME The game seemed to be going nowhere but two quick goals, separated by less than 120 seconds, sees Chelsea go into the break in a very very comfortable position.

45' + 4' GOAL! GIROUD SCORES! Pulisic with a good run and the American finds Mount, whose through-ball puts Giroud free. He gets past Patricio but Coady briefly shields it. The striker however doesn't give up, gets past the center-back and hooks his foot around the ball to put it into the net.

45' +1' GOAL! MOUNT! The youngster take it and hits it to Patricio's right, well beyond his stretched hands.

Pedro Neto meanwhile picked up a yellow card for persistent complains about that decision.

45' Four minutes added at the end of the first half.

45' Long ball from Rudiger finds Reeace James and the right-back's cross into the box sees it cleared for Chelsea's first corner of the game.

Wolves fails to clear the corner properly, the ball falls to Alonso and Neto has a foot high as he tries to win the ball. The Blues have a freekick in a fantastic position.

43' Neto’s cross seems to be looping into the goal but Caballero gets a hand to it in time. The ball bounces off Alonso's head for a corner.

From the corner, the ball falls to Neves but he shoots well over the bar.

42' "I could have played in goal for Chelsea today," says the commentator. Has Kepa been that bad or is that an exaggeration?

39' Mount's cross fromt he right finds Giroud in a great position but the ball is just behind the Frenchman and he heads over. Best chance of the game so far.

38' Jota loses the ball and Chelsea goes on the counter. Mount finds Pulisic, wh plays in Alonso. The left-back shoots at goal but sees his effort blocked by Boly.

36' Still no shots on target at Stamford Bridge. At King Power Stadium, Leicester City and Manchester United are locked in a goalless battle too.

34' Jimenez has recovered and is back on the pitch.

31' Jimenez and Zouma are down after a clash as they try to win a long ball. The Chelsea defender is up slowly and seems okay. Jimenez however has remained on the floor and that prompts Adama Traore to start warming up.

The Mexican forward is sitting up and the doctors are checking for a possible concussion now.

30' Both teams are playing on the coutner attack and not much has come off them. Half an hour gome and it hsa been a cagey affiar so far.

23' Jota fails to keep the ball in play on the left wing and with that it is time for the drinks break. Or, as the managers have seen, a break to talk tactics with their players!

22' YELLOW CARD. Jota makes a very late challenge on Azpilicueta. The Chelsea skipper goes down howling and the Wolves man is booked.

The setpiece comes to nothing as Wolves clears at the first time of asking.

21' Chances at both ends. Jota eases Azpilicueta off the ball but Kovacic makes a brilliant run back to stop that attack. At the other end, Pulisic has the ball but not enough time to pick his pass. His ball through to Giroud has too much pace on it.

17' Wolves wins a corner and Giroud makes a fine defensive header to clear the delivery.

POSSESSION: Chelsea 60%, Wolves 40%

14' Jimenez attempts an ambitious shot from outside the penalty box and Zouma makes the block.

13' Harry Kane has put Tottenham ahead against Crystal Palace. Remember, Wolves needs to match Spurs' result tonight to qualify for the Europa League season.

11' Chelsea wins a free-kick in a dangerous position after Boly brings down Pulisic. The referee didn't have a good view of that but the linesman did and the replays show that it was the right call.

Mount takes the freekick and Reece James heads it wide of the far post.

8' Wolves has done a good job of forcing Chelsea to go long by keeping the midfield tiight.

7' Mason Mount on the right wing and Christian Pulisic on the left wing, going by the opening minutes.

5' Alonso and Doherty contest a header and the Chelsea defender is down. Referee doesn't give a foul and the Wolves wingback runs through. He beats Rudiger in the box but Zouma cuts it out for a corner.

Chelsea clears the corner and Mount is on the counter - which get stopped by Coady.

3' Jimenez tries to play Jota through but he gets the pass wrong. First attack from Wolves.

2' Early touch for Caballero as Chelsea keeps possession at the back. The ball is lost after Jorginho's threaded pass runs through to Patricio.

KICKFOFF Wolves gets the game at Stamford Bridge underway.

— The teams have comes out and lined up for one last time this season. Can Chelsea clinch Champions League qualification? Will Wolves seal Europa League qualification? We are 90 minutes away from finding out.

— Want to keep an eye on the Leicester vs Manchester United match while following the Chelsea vs Wolves game? We got you covered. There's live coverage of the game from King Power Stadium too.

You can follow any game that's kicking off tonight over here .

— So what do Manchester United, Chelsea, Leicester City need to do to qualify for Champions League nex season? We have an explainer to address this question.

— Willian has an unspecified injury so he misses out on what could be his final Premier League match for Chelsea. Kepa Arrizabalaga is dropped and Willy Cabellaro starts instead. Christian Pulisic made a big impact off the bench at Liverpool and he seems to have overcome the niggles as he starts against Wolves. N'Golo Kante is not fit enough to return from a hamstring injury. He isn't named on the bench either.

Those are the only changes to the team that lost 5-3 away to Liverpool.

— Timo Werner has been spotted at Stamford Bridge but he can only watch from the stands tonight. He will be in attendance to watch his new team-mates after flying to London today following a short break after the Bundesliga season ended.

 

— TEAM NEWS

Chelsea: Caballero; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Rudiger; James, Kovacic, Jorginho, Alonso, Mount, Pulisic, Giroud.

Substitutes: Kepa, Christensen, Barkley, Abraham, Pedro, Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi, Tomori, Emerson

Wolves: Patricio, Boly, Coady, Saiss, Doherty, Dendoncker, Neves, Neto, Jonny, Jimenez, Jota

Substitutes: Ruddy, Jordao, Podence, Gibbs-White, Moutinho, Vinagre, Traore, Kilman, Buur

Team news

N'Golo Kante has missed Chelsea's last five matches and but he trained ahead of tonight's game and could feature. Fikayo Tomori and Billy Gilmour are definitely out.

Wolves has no injury or suspension issues ahead of this game.

Premier League form

Chelsea: LWWLWL

Wolves: WLLWDW

STAT: Chelsea is unbeaten in all five of its Premier League home games against Wolves, last losing against it in the top flight at Stamford Bridge in March 1979.

— Wolves will be looking to become the latest side to exploit Chelsea's defensive fragility. It heads into the game with little momentum on its side.

Back-to-back losses to Arsenal and Sheffield United killed Wolves' top-four hopes, but it has since defeated Everton and Crystal Palace while drawing against Burnley.

Like Chelsea, Wolves will have also an eye on other results. It is in a fight to finish above Tottenham Hotspur - one point behind in seventh - and secure Europa League football next season.

— If Chelsea loses today, does it mean an end to its Champions League qualification hopes? Not quiet.

The Blues could actually lose to Wolves and still finish in the top four, if Manchester United defeats Leicester City in of the other final day clashes. The same applies if Chelsea draws against Wolves.

— Frank Lampard replaced Maurizio Sarri and has operating under transfer constraints while losing star man Eden Hazard to Real Madrid. A top-four finish for Chelsea and FA Cup silverware would definitely make this an impressive maiden campaign at Stamford Bridge for the ex-Chelsea star.

The furst of those goals can be reached with a win against Wolves, which would take Chelsea to 66 points for the season — six fewer than it managed in Sarri's last season — but crucially sealing a spot in the top four.

— Chelsea hosts Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge today with their European fates in their own hands.

The Blues are fourth, occupying the final Champions League qualifying spot, while Wolves is in sixth, which would be enough to seal another season of Europa League football.

 

 

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