Neto’s late goal gives Chelsea the blues

PEDRO Neto’s dramatic injury-time winner stunned Chelsea as they lost 2-1 at Wolves to miss the chance to go top of the Premier League.

Daniel Podence cancelled out Olivier Giroud’s opener before Neto hit Chelsea on the break at the death to complete Wolves’ comeback.

Victory would have taken Chelsea top but they slipped to a secondstraight defeat following Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Everton.

Wolves also had a penalty overturned after referee Stuart Attwell initially awarded a late spotkick for Reece James’ foul on Neto, while Kurt Zouma hit the crossbar for the visitors in the first half.

Fabio Silva again got the nod to deputise for the recovering Raul Jimenez for the hosts and had a goal ruled out for offside.

But it was Neto and Podence who continue to fill the void left by Jimenez – out with a fractured skull – and they have scored 53% of Wolves’ 13 goals this term as they sit two points further back in ninth.

When asked if the two defeats were just a blip, Chelsea boss Frank Lampard said: “That’s up to us, isn’t it? We had a long unbeaten run and everyone sang our praises.

“I was the last one to do that it’s my job to stay level headed on both ends so I shouldn’t get too disappointed tonight as much as I didn’t get too elated after Leeds on the back of a really good run.

“But clearly, when we perform like we did today, that’s not game management, that’s not the quality levels that we are striving for.”

Meanwhile, Manchester City’s lack of cutting edge proved costly again as they were held to a 1-1 draw by struggling West Brom to remain off the pace at the top of the Premier League.

Ilkay Gundogan fired them ahead on the half-hour mark but after a Ruben Dias own goal brought the Baggies level just before half-time, City struggled to find a way through the most porous defence in the league.

There was late drama as Sam Johnstone made point-blank saves to deny Gundogan and Raheem Sterling in time added on but a late twist would have been harsh on the Baggies and flattered this City performance.

It was the first time City had failed to beat West Brom since 2011, ending a run of 13 consecutive league victories in this fixture, and the result leaves them five points from the summit with all of the top four still to play tonight.

City, criticised for being pedestrian in Saturday’s goalless Manchester derby at Old Trafford, did not start much faster here as West Brom sat back.

The big early chance went to the visitors as Joao Cancelo tried to cut out Conor Gallagher’s pass but succeeded only in playing in Karlan Grant, who really should have scored as Ederson got down low to his left to save.