Nottingham Forest beat disastrous Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge to move six points clear of the Premier League relegation zone and send Aston Villa a warning ahead of Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg.
While home fans were furious after Chelsea’s sixth straight Premier League defeat and their chances of qualifying for Europe were in serious jeopardy, the visiting side celebrated a resounding victory that few could have predicted when the team sheets were released.
Vitor Pereira made eight changes to his starting lineup with the game against Villa in mind. However, it was a spectacular success of the head coach’s game plan, as the fringe players got their chance first before the star players led the team to victory. Forrest’s prospects are improving both domestically and in Europe.
Chelsea remain in 9th place, unable to achieve the 5th place in the Premier League which would qualify them for the Champions League. If Villa win the Europa League and finish fifth or sixth, it will be enough to qualify for Europe’s elite club competition, with the Blues trailing Bournemouth, who hold that spot, by four points.
But as with any European football, it’s never a sure thing for this team. The FA Cup could still be their gateway to the Europa League, but their semi-final victory at Wembley last time out should have reignited their season. They are back on the wrong track here.
Any thoughts that Forest had switched priorities away from the Premier League were dashed just 97 seconds later when Taiwo Awoniyi headed home Dillane Bakwa’s cross.
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Taiwo Awonih puts Nottingham Forest ahead in the Premier League match against Chelsea
Marking from the Chelsea defense was non-existent, and with the home side scrambling to respond, there was more frightening defending after Enzo Fernandes hit the post, and in the 15th minute Maro Gusto tugged on Awoniyi’s shirt in the box, giving Igor Jesus a chance to double the lead.
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Igor Jesus scores a penalty to double Nottingham Forest’s lead against Chelsea in the Premier League
Chelsea had a chance to earn a penalty just before half-time after a violent clash of heads between Forest defender Zac Abbott and Blues Premier League debutant Jesse Derry, but Cole Palmer’s spot-kick was saved by Mats Sells.
This was his second missed penalty in 20 attempts in the Premier League, but the circumstances were difficult. After about 10 minutes of treatment on the pitch, 18-year-old Derry had to be carried on a stretcher and taken to hospital for precautionary tests.
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Mats Sells saves Cole Palmer’s penalty in Nottingham Forest’s Premier League match against Chelsea
Levi Colwill started his first Chelsea appearance of the season at half-time after overcoming an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained on the first day of pre-season. However, there was also a significant triple change from Forest, with Morgan Gibbs-White, Elliott Anderson and Nikola Milenkovic sent on.
Pereira’s call to introduce big names looked inspired when Anderson played Gibbs-White through to set up Awonih for Forest’s third goal just seven minutes into the second half.
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Taiwo Awoniyi scores Nottingham Forest’s third goal against Chelsea in the Premier League
Awonih was narrowly onside. Joao Pedro appeared to pull one back for Chelsea in the 73rd minute, but he was narrowly ruled offside by VAR.
The Brazilian eventually got his name on the scoresheet with a superb overhead in stoppage time as the home side increased the pressure. But on a day when everything turned golden for Pereira and Forrest, that was all that went right for Chelsea.
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Joao Pedro ends Chelsea’s nine-hour goal drought with a stunning overhead kick against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
McFarlane: “First 15 minutes are unacceptable”
Chelsea interim manager Callum MacFarlane:
“I was really disappointed with the performance and disappointed with the result, but I don’t think today we were able to reach the level that we knew we could.
“I thought for the first 15 minutes we weren’t quite at the level we needed to be, the early goal was a bit of a punch and we never really looked like we recovered from that moment.
“It was 3-on-1 at the back post. We know they like to cross to the back post and we know the No. 9 likes to peel to the back post. We have to defend those moments better. It’s a real shame. I thought we defended those moments really well against Leeds at Wembley, but I don’t think we bounced back from that moment enough.”
“When we bounced back and had chances, Enzo hit the post, Cole missed the penalty, Joao scored offside… when you start that bad you need moments like that to give the game a chance to fight back.
“The first 15 minutes were unacceptable.”
Carragher: ‘Chelsea look like a broken football club’
About Jamie Carragher, Sky Sports:
“It’s shocking and it’s from above.
“There were five or six really top-class players on the pitch today and they lost to Nottingham Forest’s B team.
“In less than 12 months they were taking PSG to the cleaners.
“There is no connection between players and staff, players and fans.
“In a way, this is a good thing because it shows you that football is not all about spending money, buying players and buying this revolving door.
“It’s important to create unity and there’s nothing there. They’re like a broken football club right now.”
Pereira hopes for medical ‘magic’ to allow Gibbs-White to play in the Europa League
Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White is treated for a head injury after colliding with Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez during the second half of Forest’s 3-1 win.
Nottingham Forest may be worried about Morgan Gibbs-White’s availability after he was sent off with a head injury in the second half of Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg at Aston Villa.
Gibbs-White collided with Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, with blood appearing on Gibbs-White’s face. They both left with bandages on their heads.
Forest manager Vitor Pereira said: “Gibbs-White has deep scars, but he is a fighter and has a strong mentality.” “I hope our medical department does some magic to get him in shape, because he’s important to us. I told him he doesn’t have to head the ball, just play. We’ll see.”
Gibbs-White is likely to miss Thursday’s trip to Villa Park, where Forest lead 1-0 in the first leg, due to concussion protocols, but Pereira said he was confident the concussion would not be an issue.
Pereira: This is a special group.
Nottingham Forest manager Vitor Pereira told Sky Sports:
“The only sad thing is the injury to Morgan Gibbs-White. I said we could change players, but the spirit is there and we will fight for the three points.”
“We want to keep our future in our hands and to do that we have to win games. Today the players once again proved their spirit, quality and organization. I am very happy for the players and the supporters.”
“We showed once again a strong spirit and showed that this is a special group. It is difficult to cope with four different managers, methodologies and tactical demands. It is difficult to remain united in friendship. They are one of the best groups I have worked with in my career.”
