Chelsea Captain Cesar Azpilicueta Disappointed Not To Beat Wolves For New Owner Todd Boehly

Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta was unimpressed with his side's on-field collapse after they blew a 2-0 lead to draw with Wolves.

Everything looked rosy for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge after Romelu Lukaku scored twice in front of new owner Todd Boehly.

US-based businessman Boehly was watching from the stadium's executive box, hours after striking a deal for his consortium to buy the club for £4.25 billion.

Boehly, who is expected to officially complete his takeover later this month, clapped and whistled after seeing Lukaku open the scoring with his first Premier League goal of 2022.

But Boehly looked less enthused at the end of the match, following late strikes by Francisco Trincao and Conor Coady.

Azpilicueta was not on the pitch in when Coady headed home Wolves' equalizer in the seventh minute of added time.

The Chelsea skipper, who was subbed off on 87 minutes, told Sky Sports that the result was "very disappointing because we were leading 2-0 so to drop two points in this way is very disappointing."

Chelsea's draw saw them fail to strengthen their hold on third place. There is still an outside chance that they could finish outside the top four.

Azpilicueta added: "Of course the taste of the game is bad. We are conceding too many goals in the last couple of games which is putting us in a difficult position in the race for the Champions League.

"Other teams are winning and we are not getting as many points as we should. We have to get up together and have a good last few weeks. It is in our hands and we have an FA Cup final to play.

"The pressure is always there. You have to accept it. Every point is important. Now we have to start better. We used to be a solid team, now we are conceding a lot of goals. That has put ourselves in a difficult position."

Asked about the ownership situation at Chelsea and Boehly being in attendance at Stamford Bridge, Azpilicueta replied: "The team has been completely out of the process. Our focus has been on the pitch.

"Of course we are disappointed not to give the first win for him.

"It is out of our hands so not worth wasting energy on that. Of course we have missed some fans in the stadium and there have been a couple of things but the work on the pitch cannot be excused. Our job is to train the best we can and get the results so that is why we're disappointed.

"We need to do the basics better. In the last couple of games we have conceded so many goals. The two boxes are the key areas. We scored two then conceded two at home. That is hard. Sometimes you need a 1-0 win. We have not been as sharp or as fluid as we've been before but we scored to go 2-0 and that should have been enough."

Azpilicueta was perhaps slightly fortunate to have been subbed off by manager Thomas Tuchel rather than be sent off by referee Peter Bankes.

The Spanish defender only received a yellow card in the first half after elbowing Pedro Neto.

Cesar Azpilicueta pictured elbowing Pedro Neto during Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Wolves

IMAGO/Pro Sports Images/Nigel Keene