Chelsea 0 Wolves 0 - Report

Plenty of eyes were on the Blues after the sacking of Frank Lampard and appointment of Thomas Tuchel, but Nuno Espirito Santo's charges grabbed a deserved point at Stamford Bridge.

A much more traditional Nuno performance – organised, robust, winning challenges – resulted in their first clean sheet since beating Crystal Palace three months ago, ending a 12-game run without one.

They could have won it as Pedro Neto's lob hit the woodwork towards the end. Wolves, though, can reflect on a solid night's work in the capital.

Analysis

Putting their bodies on the line, being aggressive in the air and, ultimately, not being broken down, this was far more like it from Wolves.

Nuno's charges have had a worrying tendency to switch off at the back over the past few months, but there was no sign of that at Chelsea, whatsoever.

They kept their composure and remained focused from the first whistle right until the last.

Any neutral will tell you that this was a game low down in terms of entertainment. Wolves, though, did create a big opening as Neto clipped the crossbar and almost grabbed their first win at the Bridge since 1979.

Crucially, they stopped the rot at the back.

Having even looked susceptible at set-pieces as they scraped past non-league Chorley in the FA Cup, they were far more assured this time around and refused to succumb to the Blues' pressure.

Conor Coady led by example; Willy Boly returned to his top level; Nelson Semedo had perhaps his best game since his summer move from Barcelona – plenty of positives to take from it.

Yes, more can be done on the front foot, but hopefully that arrives at Selhurst Park – along with another sound showing in defence – this weekend. Their confidence should have been boosted by this.

Match report

The big piece of team news for Wolves was the return of Daniel Podence after a month on the sidelines. The Portuguese was part of a fluid front three amid a total of six changes from last week's narrow Cup win at Chorley.

New signing Willian Jose was not expected to be involved, but the club managed to get his work permit over the line just in time.

The Brazilian was on a strong-looking nine-man bench alongside the likes of Joao Moutinho, Romain Saiss and Fabio Silva.

Tuchel, meanwhile, opted for Oliver Giroud – who scored in the reverse fixture, a 2-1 win for Wolves in December – in attack.

As was probably to be expected, the Blues displayed vast eagerness to impress their new gaffer in the opening stages. They were having almost all of the ball and zipping it about with urgency.

Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho looked especially busy in the middle of the park, while Nuno's lot were penned in and did not have an obvious outball.

They had three centre forwards – Jose, Silva and Patrick Cutrone – among the substitutes, but no traditional target man on the pitch.

Still, they were having their moments on the counter-attack. The 5ft 5in Podence, who was operating through the middle, did well to drop deep and play it over his shoulder to Neto, with his decent cross failing to be attacked.

Podence then managed to win a free-kick right on the edge of the box, which Ruben Neves ended up curling a few yards over the crossbar. He would have been disappointed not to test Edouard Mendy.

Chelsea's dominance of possession soon resumed, but without causing Wolves a great deal of bother.

Ben Chilwell volleyed comfortably wide after Callum Hudson-Odoi's delivery to the far post, before an Antonio Rudiger header was gathered with little fuss by Rui Patricio.

The away side continued to have spells of their own as well. Nelson Semedo was keen to break forward down the right whenever he could and doing a solid job against Chilwell.

A well-worked move also saw Podence find Neto, whose ball into the area was nodded too high by Leander Dendoncker – who remains goalless this campaign.

It was not an inspiring first half from Wolves, but it was solid. They were defending well and holding their own.

Nuno made a change for the start of the second period as Rayan Ait-Nouri, having struggled to keep track of the tricky Hudson-Odoi at times, was taken off and Ki-Jana Hoever introduced. Semedo, as a result, moved over to left-wing-back.

They were organised and sticking to their shape, looking far better than they had done on the back foot in the few games previous to this one. However, attacks became few and far between.

Podence looked sharp but it seemed only a matter of time until a conventional striker was introduced, with Adama Traore barely involved and often losing his footing when on the ball.

Someone was needed to hold it up and alleviate the pressure, and fresh face Jose seemed best-placed to provide that. So, it was no surprise to see the Real Sociedad loanee make his gold and black debut in the 72nd minute – Podence making way.

Seconds before that switch, though, Wolves had a fantastic opportunity to take the lead.

A poor clearance from Mendy was followed up by indecision amongst the Blues defenders, allowing Neto clean through on goal. Opting to scoop the ball over the keeper, his effort agonisingly grazed the top of the bar on its way over.

A chance to take all three points – Dendoncker also having an opportunity on the breakaway but being denied after a loose touch – missed. But, all in all, Wolves should feel positive going into Saturday's clash with Crystal Palace. Their defending was excellent.

Teams

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Mendy; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Silva, Chilwell (Pulisic, 77) ; Kovacic, Jorginho; Ziyech (Mount, 82), Havertz, Hudson-Odoi; Giroud (Abraham, 77)

Subs not used: Kepa (gk), James, Zouma, Emerson, Alonso, Werner

Wolves (3-4-3): Patricio; Boly, Coady, Kilman; Semedo, Neves, Dendoncker, Ait-Nouri (Hoever, 46); Traore (Moutinho, 90), Podence (Jose, 72), Neto

Subs not used: Ruddy (gk), Saiss, Otasowie, Vitinha, Silva, Cutrone

Referee: Andy Madley (Huddersfield)