Nottingham Forest will have to wait to mathematically ensure their Premier League status after conceding two late goals in a 3-2 home defeat to Chelsea.
Forest head into Saturday’s thrilling match knowing they must ensure safety by one point from their final two games after Luton Town’s 3-1 defeat to West Ham United and Burnley’s 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur will suffice.
Callum Hudson-Odoi thought he had won the game against his former team with a superb curler in the 74th minute, after Mykhailo Mudryk’s strike was canceled out by Willy Boley inside the opening 16 minutes.
However, Chelsea silenced the City Ground in the final 10 minutes through quick goals from Raheem Sterling and Nicholas Jackson.
Chelsea’s third consecutive win puts them seventh and level with Newcastle United in sixth, while Forest are three points better than Luton with a match in hand, but are 12 goals better off on goal difference.
How was the match?
Madric controlled Cole Palmer’s defence-splitting pass and crossed for Matze Sels to give Chelsea the lead, but Boley equalized for Forest with a free header from Morgan Gibbs-White’s free-kick delivery. The ball touched Connor Gallagher on its way. ,
Forest created several chances even in the 1–1 draw when Ryan Yates clipped the outside of the post and Gibbs-White did the same with a close-range header, with the rebound falling to Chris Wood.
The Forest striker somehow produced a brilliant performance from one of his near misses of the season, which almost proved costly as Thiago Silva soon clipped the post at the other end.
Hudson-Odoi was the next to hit the frame of goal, hitting the bar with a deflected shot, but it didn’t matter when he cut inside Malo Gusto and turned the ball past Djordje Petrovic.
Then came a late turn, however, as substitute Sterling scored a similar curling strike at the opposite end in the 80th minute, before fellow replacement Reece James – returning from a lengthy layoff – fired past Jackson with two minutes to go. Crossed over as a dramatic winner in even less time. Later
Hudson-Odoi Belter Not Enough
Hudson-Odoi was playing in the Premier League for the 100th time and marked the historic milestone against his former team, with whom he made 72 appearances.
The eight goals he has scored this season are the most by an English player for Forest in a single Premier League campaign since Jason Lee scored eight in 1995/96, while this is the most he has scored in all those appearances. That’s double the number of goals scored for Chelsea.
However, that goal was notably not enough, thanks to Sterling and Jackson, meaning Forest technically still needed a point to confirm their safety. However, barring a truly remarkable upset on the final day, they will be safe for another year.
Palmer in the Lampard and Drogba area
Palmer brilliantly assisted Chelsea’s early opener and would have had another chance if Jackson had been more clinical in front of goal.
The England midfielder now has a tally of 31 direct Premier League goals in his first campaign at Stamford Bridge, which no player in the division can better.
He is only the third Chelsea player to score 20 or more goals (21 in total) and provide 10 or more assists (10 in total) in a Premier League season for Chelsea, after Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, who did so. 2009/10 campaign.
club report
Not’Em One Report | chelsea report
Final Premier League fixtures
important facts
Morgan Gibbs-White recorded his 10th assist of the Premier League campaign, with only Ollie Watkins (12) making more in 2023/24. He is the third Nottingham Forest player to reach double figures for assists in a season in the competition, following Brian Roy in 1994/95 (11) and Ian Voan in 1995/96 (10).
Since Boxing Day 2023, only three teams have collected more than Chelsea’s 35 points in the Premier League (Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool). They have lost only three of their 18 games in this period (W10 D5), with only Man City (0) having suffered fewer defeats.
Forest suffered their ninth home defeat of the Premier League season, their joint-heaviest defeat in a 20-team campaign in the competition (also nine in 1998/99).
Mudric scored his fifth Premier League goal of the season for Chelsea, three of which were match-opening goals – only Cole Palmer (eight) has opened the scoring more times for the Blues in the competition this season.
