Nottingham Forest produced a ruthless show at Stamford Bridge to beat Chelsea 3-1, deepening the hosts’ depressing run and taking a big step in direction of Premier League survival.
Forest stun Chelsea early
The tone was set inside two minutes as Nottingham Forest struck with their first significant assault. Dilane Bakwa breezed previous Marc Cucurella on the correct and delivered a cross for Taiwo Awoniyi, who peeled away from his marker and powered a header into the highest nook.
Chelsea tried to reply and got here shut by Enzo Fernandez, whose low strike rattled the publish, however their defensive fragility was shortly uncovered once more.
Malo Gusto’s shirt pull on Awoniyi resulted in a penalty after a VAR assessment, and Igor Jesus calmly transformed from the spot to double Forest’s lead.
The hosts’ afternoon went from unhealthy to worse earlier than half-time. A prolonged stoppage following a critical head collision led to a Chelsea penalty, however Cole Palmer’s effort was fantastically saved by Matz Sels, preserving Forest’s two-goal benefit heading into the break.
Medical counter seals the end result
Forest made modifications at half-time, and one in all them paid off. Morgan Gibbs-White made a direct impression by racing in behind and delivering a low cross for Awoniyi to faucet in from shut vary, making it 3-0 early within the second half.
As the sport wore on, Stamford Bridge started to empty, with the house aspect trying devoid of perception and vitality. Lengthy spells of sluggish, predictable build-up play summed up a workforce struggling for confidence.
Late purpose presents little comfort
Chelsea lastly ended their extended purpose drought deep into stoppage time. Marc Cucurella nodded a cross again into the hazard space, and Joao Pedro produced an acrobatic end from shut vary to drag one again.
By then, nevertheless, the end result was already sealed. Forest comfortably noticed out the remaining minutes to safe a deserved win, condemning Chelsea to 6 straight losses within the prime flight.
