Matheus Cunha’s hat-trick helped Wolves claim a 4-2 comeback victory at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea dropped into the bottom half of the Premier League table.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side were booed off by home fans at the end of a second loss in four days, whilst the name of former owner Roman Abramovich could be heard ringing around the ground.

Cole Palmer’s goal had seemed to have his side on their way to a fifth home league win in a row when he slotted in after 19 minutes.

Thereafter however, Gary O’Neil’s team dictated everything, with Cunha leading the way, although Chelsea will deem themselves unfortunate to have conceded from two big deflections in the first half, one of which was given as an own goal against Axel Disasi.

Thiago Silva headed a consolation near the end before home supporters let the depth of their anger be known.

The sides exchanged half-chances during the opening 15 minutes, Cunha and Pedro Neto drawing decent saves from Djordje Petrovic in Chelsea’s goal, whilst at the other end Palmer saw a left-footed shot deflect wide from outside the box and Christopher Nkunku was blocked by Jose Sa as he ran through on goal.

The game needed a spark of inspiration, and it came from Moises Caicedo. Chelsea’s record signing collected the ball centrally midway inside the Wolves half and with slid-rule precision found the run of Palmer. Caicedo’s pass did the hard part for him, and Chelsea’s top scorer placed it first-time into the corner with a cool flick of the boot.

It was a worthy assist, but the Ecuadorean undid his good work almost instantly. It was he who dallied on the ball in midfield, gifting it back to Wolves. From there, the visitors broke forward, working it up to Cunha who cut in onto his right and hit a shot that deflected off Silva and in as Petrovic scrambled to recover.

Chelsea laboured to impose themselves but O’Neil’s side had been the better team on the ball throughout the half, despite the hosts’ superior possession statistics. Wolves moved the ball with more intent, their attacking players making the more inventive runs. Chelsea by contrast, save for Caicedo’s moment of magic, were running into walls.

The pattern of the half was encapsulated by the goal that put Wolves in front. One ball from Nelson Semedo released Neto down the right, who carried it and crossed low. Chelsea were unfortunate to suffer another critical deflection as Rayan Ait Nouri’s shot bounced off Disasi and in, rounding off an efficient, clinical Wolves counter.

Chelsea supporters near the dugout were angry with their team’s slow pace and a perceived lack of fight, making their feelings known at half-time in a furious chorus of boos. But things were only to get worse.

Raheem Sterling dragged wide from Ben Chilwell’s clever cut-back at the start of the second half as Pochettino’s side sought a response. At the other end, frustrations spread from the crowd to the pitch as Caicedo gave away two free-kicks in as many minutes on the edge of his own box, the second earning him a booking.

Wolves’ third goal came from more crisp, incisive counter-attacking. Enzo Fernandez tried to cut out Semedo’s ball down the line but helped it only into the path of Neto, who ran it deep into the box and laid off for Cunha to batter it past Petkovic. Cue another rally of bitter discontent from home supporters.

Malo Gusto’s foul handed Cunha the chance to seal his hat-trick from the penalty spot, an opportunity he took with a neat finish into the corner.

Thiago Silva’s late headed consolation could not take the sheen off a stunning Wolves win.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s incredible strike saw Napoli come from behind to beat Verona 2-1 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Serie A.

A dramatic final 20 minutes saw Verona take the lead through Diego Coppola in the 72nd minute, but Napoli shortly equalised seven minutes later through Cyril Ngonge – who joined them from their opponents last month.

Kvaratskhelia then capped a dramatic comeback in the 87th minute with a fantastic goal dispatched into the top corner to win it for the hosts.

Napoli were straight out of the blocks to dominate in the opening stages with Matteo Politano firing in some dangerous crosses and they had a penalty shout waved away in the seventh minute when Kvaratskhelia was brought down in the box.

The Georgian forward had a fantastic chance minutes later with a powerful effort across goal that forced Lorenzo Montipo into a save at full stretch to tip the ball away.

Kvaratskhelia tested the goalkeeper again after blasting a first-time volley just outside of the box but Montipo reacted well to stop the ball finding the bottom corner.

Verona did well to defend a dangerous free-kick from Kvaratskhelia before the visitors went on the attack just before the break with Michael Folorunsho flicking the ball past the post before Darko Lazovic’s ambitious effort from distance curled wide.

The visitors had a great chance to take the lead minutes into the second half when Ondrej Duda’s free-kick found Coppola at the back post but the defender fired wide.

Verona threatened again when Lazovic’s curling effort was palmed out for a corner by Pierluigi Gollini.

Montipo was called into action at the other end to punch away Kvaratskhelia’s free-kick before the resulting corner saw the goalkeeper deny Giovanni Simeone from close-range.

Following some great pressure throughout the half, Verona took the lead in the 72nd minute when Tomas Suslov’s free-kick curled to Coppola at the back and the ball bounced off the defender’s shoulder across goal into the bottom corner.

Napoli pressed for the equaliser and came close minutes later when Montipo kept out Pasquale Mazzocchi’s shot before making another brilliant save to tip Jesper Lindstrom’s powerful strike from the rebound over the bar.

The hosts managed to level in the 79th minute when Lindstrom played a low cross into former Verona player Ngonge, who was unmarked in the box and slotted the ball into the bottom corner.

Kvaratskhelia completed the turnaround with a stunning strike, turning outside of the box before sweetly curling the ball into the top right corner and despite some late pressure from Verona the hosts were able to see the game out.

Tributes have been paid to Kurt Hamrin, the last surviving player from the 1958 World Cup final, who has died at the age of 89.

Hamrin scored in wins over the Soviet Union and West Germany to lead hosts Sweden to the final, where they were beaten 5-2 by a Pele-inspired Brazil.

Having made his debut for AIK in Stockholm at the age of 17, Hamrin went to play for a number of top Italian teams, winning the European Cup with AC Milan in 1969.

He played for nine seasons for Fiorentina, for whom he remains their record goalscorer, and settled in the city when his playing career came to a close in 1972.

In a statement, Fiorentina called Hamrin “a true legend”, while the Swedish Football Federation also paid tribute, writing: “Swedish football has lost one of its greats.

“It wasn’t just the track record, the goals, the passes and the hard work on the right wing that made ‘Kurre’ a legend who was never forgotten. He was a loyal and popular person wherever he played.

“Swedish football remembers Kurre Hamrin with great warmth and gratitude. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones right now.”

Rasmus Hojlund celebrated his 21st birthday in style as the summer signing’s fine opener and a brace from fellow young gun Alejandro Garnacho fired Manchester United to a 3-0 win against West Ham.

Fresh from 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo’s stoppage-time stunner settling Thursday’s chaotic contest at Wolves, the Red Devils’ talented young talents came to the fore once more.

Summer signing Hojlund rifled United ahead with his fourth Premier League goal in as many games, with 19-year-old Garnacho then seeing an effort deflect in off Nayef Aguerd before firing home United’s third against David Moyes’ Hammers.

The goalscorers and Thursday’s matchwinner Mainoo mimicked West Ham forward Mohammed Kudus’ celebration after Garnacho’s first goal, sitting together on the advertising hoardings.

It provided a fantastic image of three young talents that offer hope for a bright future at United, whose season has been bumpy for the most part but is starting to show signs of improvement.

The only negative for Erik Ten Hag’s side was the injury that saw a grimacing Lisandro Martinez replaced with 20 minutes remaining.

Aberdeen are set to appoint Neil Warnock as their interim manager until the end of the season, according to reports.

The Dons are reported to be in advanced talks with the 75-year-old as they look for a short-term replacement for Barry Robson.

Robson followed Derek McInnes, Stephen Glass and Jim Goodwin in leaving the position of Aberdeen manager around this time of the year in four seasons running and the club look set to take their time over their next long-term appointment.

Warnock has long stated he wanted to manage in Scotland and has an affection for Morton given he has a home in Dunoon, across the Firth of Clyde from Greenock. He revealed last year that he thought he was once close to getting the Hearts job.

Warnock came out of retirement 12 months ago to return to Huddersfield and steer them from second bottom to safety in the Sky Bet Championship.

The former Leeds, Sheffield United and Cardiff manager departed in September with his work done and did not rule out restarting his career.

“My health is good, I’ve never felt better. If anything I’ve got the buzz again,” he said.

“You don’t know what the next knock on the door is going to be. I’m sure when February comes round people will be asking me again.”

Warnock could potentially have a high-profile debut as Aberdeen take on Rangers on Tuesday at Ibrox.

They will travel to Glasgow on a high after caretaker manager Peter Leven inspired vast improvement from his side in the second half of their home clash with Celtic on Saturday.

After failing to take a shot at goal before the break, and barely having any possession in the final third, the Dons took the lead through Bojan Miovksi in the 50th minute and had several other opportunities in the 1-1 draw.

First-team coach Leven afterwards stated he was taking his new role “day by day”.

“It’s a great bunch of boys, they were running all over the pitch, they gave everything,” he said. “Whoever’s coming in, great team, great bunch of boys.

“We just need to believe in ourselves because we are a top team, and you could see that in the second half.”

The draw left Aberdeen in eighth place in the cinch Premiership, 20 points behind Hearts in third place.

Sunderland boss Michael Beale paid tribute to derby saviour Nazariy Rusyn after seeing him come off the bench to rescue a point at Middlesbrough.

The Ukrainian striker has taken his time to settle on Wearside after initially arriving without his family from Zorya Luhansk in September. However, he took a significant step forward on Sunday afternoon by blasting a late equaliser to snatch a 1-1 Sky Bet Championship draw at the Riverside Stadium.

Beale said: “I have seen a difference in him – and you would, if you are a father. Living away is different if you’re living in different parts of the UK, but obviously where he is from there is a war going on and he was a long way away from his wife and child.

“They are here now, which is fantastic for him on a personal level. All the time his English improves, he will have better connection with his team-mates on the pitch.”

Rusyn’s intervention came in the nick of time with Boro threatening to complete a double over their neighbours.

Both sides squandered good first-half opportunities with Finn Azaz blazing over an open goal after Sam Greenwood’s attempt had been saved and Abdoullah Ba failing to direct his attempt past defender Rav van den Berg on the line.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 61st minute when Forss blasted past Anthony Patterson but that proved insufficient to claim the points when 25-year-old Rusyn squeezed a dipping shot through goalkeeper Tom Glover with seven minutes remaining.

Beale said: “Our reaction, I thought, was fantastic and we go and and score a goal and then after that, I thought that with one or two of the moments we had, certainly with [Jack] Clarke getting in down the left, that maybe we should do better again.

“But if you can’t win… It’s a big point, How big, we won’t know for another few weeks yet.”

Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick admitted his frustration at dropping precious points from a winning position.

Asked about his emotions, Carrick said: “Yes, definitely, frustration and there’s a little bit of we need to get what we deserve from games and performances. It feels like we’re losing points that we definitely should be gaining.

“I feel for the boys because they put a lot into the game and showed a lot of quality, especially second half to control it fully, and not to come away with the win is disappointing.”

A rematch with the mighty Constitution Hill looms large for State Man following a comfortable defence of his Chanelle Pharma Irish Champion Hurdle crown at Leopardstown.

Since falling on his first start for Willie Mullins at this track in December 2021, State Man has been the dominant force in the division in Ireland, winning nine of his next 10 outings.

His only defeat during that period came at the hands of Nicky Henderson’s Constitution Hill, who proved nine lengths too strong in the Champion Hurdle at last season’s Cheltenham Festival.

And while State Man clearly has his work cut out to turn the tables in the Cotswolds next month, he confirmed his status as the reigning champion’s biggest threat with an eighth Grade One victory under Paul Townend.

Having been unable to reel in his stablemate in the Matheson Hurdle in December, Impaire Et Passe this time set out to make all the running under Daryl Jacob, with State Man (2-5 favourite) his nearest pursuer.

State Man took over travelling strongly before the home turn and was always doing enough in the straight to keep a resurgent Bob Olinger at bay, with five and a half lengths separating the pair at the line.

Coral left the winner unchanged at 3-1 for the Champion Hurdle, with Constitution Hill their 1-5 favourite.

El Fabiolo continued his relentless march towards next month’s Queen Mother Champion Chase with a dominant display in the Ladbrokes Dublin Chase at Leopardstown.

Winner of the Irish Arkle at this meeting last year before following up in the Arkle at Cheltenham, the seven-year-old had stretched his unbeaten record over fences to six when making a successful start to the current campaign in the Hilly Way at Cork.

With the weather denying him an intended trip to Britain for the Clarence House Chase at Ascot last month, El Fabiolo was rerouted to the Dublin Racing Festival for his final outing before his return to the Cotswolds and ultimately got the job done without too much fuss.

Having tracked his stablemate and last year’s winner Gentleman De Mee for most of the two-mile-one-furlong journey, El Fabiolo (4-11 favourite) took over with a big leap two fences from home and was in in full command thereafter, only having to be pushed out by Paul Townend to score by eight and a half lengths from another Willie Mullins-trained runner in Dinoblue.

Both Coral and Paddy Power make El Fabiolo the 4-9 market leader to provide Mullins with a third successive victory in the Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival following the back-to-back wins of the currently sidelined Energumene.

Ballyburn further enhanced his burgeoning reputation with an emphatic victory in the Tattersalls Ireland 50th Derby Sale Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown.

A dual bumper winner but beaten by Firefox on his hurdling debut at Fairyhouse, the Willie Mullins-trained six-year-old put that right with a 25-length demolition job at Leopardstown over Christmas.

The son of Flemensfirth was the 10-11 favourite to successfully step up to Grade One level at the Dublin Racing Festival, and the drop in distance from two-and-a-half to two miles proved to be no problem whatsoever.

Paul Townend positioned Ballyburn close to the pace from flag-fall and having travelled well into the home straight, he readily kicked clear as he raced by the omitted final flight and passed the post with seven lengths in hand over Slade Steel.

Mullins said: “It was a great performance, I’m absolutely delighted. He met hurdle after hurdle right and was in control the whole way. Paul was very happy with how he did things.

“He did everything right over the minimum trip, which is good.

“He has a very low head carriage which is usually a good sign in a horse, I like it, but it’s not nice for the jockeys at times.”

Ballyburn heads ante-post lists for both the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and the Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, with Mullins in no rush to commit to either race at this stage.

He added: “I’m going to talk about today and leave it at that.”

Substitute Nazariy Rusyn denied Middlesbrough derby-day victory as Sunderland hit back late to snatch a point at the Riverside Stadium.

Boro looked to be heading for a Sky Bet Championship double over their neighbours courtesy of Marcus Forss’ 61st-minute strike until the Ukrainian striker sent a dipping 83rd-minute shot past Tom Glover at his near post to snatch a 1-1 draw which leaves the Black Cats just a point shy of the play-off places.

The Teessiders, who have a game in hand, remain three points worse off after allowing two to slip from their grasp on a day when Finn Azaz and Abdoullah Ba passed up glorious first-half chances for their respective sides.

Azaz might have put Boro ahead with nine minutes gone after Sam Greenwood had raced clear of defender Dan Ballard on to Lukas Engel’s long ball and forced a block from keeper Anthony Patterson, but he skied over from the rebound with the goal yawning.

Boro keeper Glover saved from Jack Clarke and Trai Hume with the pace and trickery of Clarke and Ba keeping the Boro defence on its toes and the interplay between Jonny Howson, Hayden Hackney and Greenwood similarly occupying their opposite numbers.

Hackney dragged a 29th-minute attempt after robbing Jobe Bellingham and Ba warmed Glover’s hands with a rising drive two minutes later before firing wastefully into the side netting when he might have had better options in the middle.

Sunderland should have been ahead five minutes before the break when Bellingham and Clarke mesmerised the home defence to seemingly present Ba with a tap-in at the far post, but Rav van den Berg somehow got across to block his effort on the line.

Luke Ayling was denied by Hume after linking promisingly with Hackney and Forss down the right, and the Boro full-back curled another effort wide with the Teessiders dominating immediately after the restart.

Patterson was fortunate to escape unpunished after dallying on a back-pass as Greenwood and Forss closed him down, but his luck ran out with 61 minutes gone.

Dan Barlaser played a free-kick short to Hackney, who laid it off to Greenwood and his scuffed shot was controlled by Forss before he smashed the ball past the helpless keeper.

Greenwood could have made it 2-0, but steered his shot across the face of goal with just Patterson to beat, and his side was made to pay when Rusyn squeezed his shot past Glover to level.

George Ford has called on England to build on the attacking endeavour shown against Italy when their Guinness Six Nations continues against Wales at Twickenham.

Although outscored 3-2 on the try count, England honoured their pre-match pledge to play with greater freedom after releasing the handbrake imposed by the kick-focussed tactics used during the first year of Steve Borthwick’s reign.

Roaming wing Tommy Freeman, scrum-half Alex Mitchell, debutant Ethan Roots and Ford himself were influential in a pleasing pivot away from the conservatism seen at the World Cup.

While England’s ambition dimmed after half-time of the 27-24 victory in Rome, Ford views the opener as a promising start.

“I know the scoreboard says it was very close, but that second half, we were pretty comfortable,” Ford said.

“The main positives for me were how we responded to them scoring tries, how it felt when we were trying to fire shots in attack and then how we controlled the game in the second half.

“Our intent to play and move the ball was good and I’m really pleased about that. It’s always a balance. You always want to make good decisions and do the right thing at the right time.

“At the very front of our minds is the intent to play, the intent to get behind the ball and attack the defence and go and try and break the line and scores tries.

“Since coming into camp two weeks ago, that’s been the biggest mindset shift from us as a team.

“This is the first game and we’ve been trying to implement that. We could have made better decisions a couple of times but playing in it was pretty exciting. We want to build this.

“I want to keep the intent to play, break the line and score tries and probably pick our execution up when we’ve got the ball.

“We understand it’s going to be a tough day – it always is against Wales – but we’re really excited to keep on getting better.

“There has been a mindset shift in defence and attack that is really enjoyable to be a part of.”

For the first time since 2019, England began the Six Nations with a win as the Jamie George era began with five debuts being issued amid a call from the new captain to believe they can win the title.

Front runners Ireland will have a major say in that given their demolition of France in Marseille, but – in the meantime – Ford values a start that produced few mishaps other than lapses in the new defensive system.

“Winning the first game is huge. You always want to start this tournament with a win. It gives you a bit of momentum, confidence,” Ford said.

“You want to win that first game because you go back home to Twickenham against Wales, which is such an exciting game anyway, with a good result so that you can go again.”

Fact To File came home in splendid isolation after his stablemate and only rival Gaelic Warrior departed at the final fence when already well beaten in Ladbrokes Novice Chase at Leopardstown.

An initial field of five was reduced to a Grade One match between two Willie Mullins-trained runners, with the champion trainer withdrawing Grangeclare West and Gordon Elliott taking out Saturday’s Irish Arkle runner-up Found A Fifty together with his stablemate American Mike.

The two-mile-five-furlong contest was predictably a tactical affair, with Paul Townend allowing 4-7 favourite Gaelic Warrior to stride on in front for much of the way while Mark Walsh was content to sit on his tail aboard 6-4 shot Fact To File.

The latter first joined issue early in the back straight before Gaelic Warrior went clear once more, but it was apparent on the approach to three out that Fact To File was going the better of the pair and he soon took over and asserted before the home turn.

The race was already over as a contest when a weary Gaelic Warrior made a bad mistake and unseated his rider at the final obstacle, allowing Fact To File to coast to what would have been an empathic victory in any case.

Paddy Power make Fact To File their 2-1 favourite from 4-1 for the Turners Novices’ Chase at next month’s Cheltenham Festival, while he is 3-1 with Coral for the longer Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase.

James Anderson was in bullish form as England faced down a record chase of 399 in Visakhapatnam, claiming India were struck by an attack of nerves.

From an overnight score of 67 for one the tourists will be attempting not only the biggest ever pursuit by an England side but the highest ever in Indian conditions. Yet Anderson revealed their irrepressible head coach Brendon McCullum had already prepared them to take on 600.

England have been chasing the second Test ever since losing the toss on the first morning, but they are a side who truly come alive when the result is on the line and have won eight of their last 10 batting last.

When they hunted down 378 against the same opponents at Edgbaston in the summer of 2022 – the biggest ever fourth-innings pursuit by an England side – they did so with ease as unbeaten centuries from Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root delivered a thumping seven-wicket win.

And Anderson feels India’s dominant position on the scorecard masks a vulnerability, pointing to a second-innings collapse that saw them lose six for 44 to finish 255 and give England a glimmer of hope.

“I think the nerves were there to see in the way they batted. I think they didn’t know how many was enough,” said the 41-year-old.

“The chat last night from the coach was that if they get 600, we were going to go for it, but they were quite cautious even when they had a big lead.

“I don’t know if ‘intimidating’ is the right word but we’re putting different thoughts in opposition’s minds and captain’s minds. It definitely felt like they were unsure what a good score would be against us. There’s been moments throughout the last two years, particularly in the last 12 months, that makes us think we’re doing something well because the way teams have reacted.

“We’ve got so much quality in our dressing room and there are guys in there who can maybe get 150 for us and win us the game.”

Root has more big scores than anyone else in the away dressing room, but he may not be operating at 100 per cent due after an injury scare. He took a blow to the finger in Sunday’s warm-up and another while fielding at slip in the morning session, forcing him off the field for treatment.

It may not be wise for Root to do so himself, but the rest of his team-mates will be crossing their fingers it is nothing serious.

“His finger isn’t great. Hopefully he’ll turn up at the ground and be OK to hold a bat,” said Anderson.

“He’s been looking after it, making sure he did everything he could to help us out in the second innings. We’ll need everyone, I think.”

England’s eagerness to go on the attack was personified by the emergence of Rehan Ahmed at number three, volunteering his own promotion up the order in the ‘nighthawk’ role first devised by Stuart Broad.

He could have been out twice in the final over of the day but instead picked up two risky boundaries.

“He got announced as ‘nightwatchman’ over the Tannoy but he certainly wasn’t that,” Anderson said with a smile.

“I know there are 180 overs left in the game, but we will try to do it in 60 or 70. That’s the way we play, and we saw that tonight with Rehan going out and playing his shots. We have set our stall out.”