Nottingham Forest shocked a struggling Chelsea side with a 3–1 win at Stamford Bridge, moving six points clear of the Premier League relegation zone and firing a warning toward Aston Villa before Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg.
While home supporters vented frustration over a sixth consecutive league defeat—one that seriously damages Chelsea’s hopes of European qualification—the visitors celebrated a commanding result few expected based on the starting lineups.
Head coach Vitor Pereira rotated heavily, making eight changes with the Villa clash in mind. The gamble paid off: squad players stepped up early, and later the key names ensured the win. Forest’s outlook in both domestic competition and Europe has improved as a result.
Chelsea remain ninth, now 10 points behind fifth-placed Villa and three shy of Brentford in seventh, which is the final European qualification spot. The FA Cup could still offer a route into the Europa League, but after a semi-final victory at Wembley that was meant to revive momentum, they slipped back into poor form here.
Any notion that Forest had shifted focus away from the league disappeared within 97 seconds, when Taiwo Awoniyi headed home a cross from Dilane Bakwa.
Chelsea’s defence was nowhere to be found, and although Enzo Fernandez hit the post as the hosts tried to respond, more defensive errors followed. Malo Gusto tugged Awoniyi’s shirt in the box, allowing Igor Jesus to double the lead from the penalty spot in the 15th minute.
Chelsea had a chance to respond before halftime after a serious clash of heads between Zach Abbott and debutant Jesse Derry, but Cole Palmer saw his penalty saved by Matz Sels. It marked only his second miss from 20 Premier League attempts, though the situation was far from routine. After nearly 10 minutes of treatment, Derry was stretchered off and taken to hospital as a precaution.
Levi Colwill made his first Chelsea appearance of the season after recovering from an ACL injury, coming on at halftime. Forest also made a triple substitution, introducing Morgan Gibbs-White, Elliot Anderson, and Nikola Milenkovic.
Pereira’s decision to bring on his top players proved decisive. Anderson set up Gibbs-White, who in turn assisted Awoniyi for Forest’s third goal just seven minutes into the second half. The striker was judged narrowly onside.
Chelsea thought they had pulled one back in the 73rd minute through Joao Pedro, but VAR ruled it offside. He eventually scored with an impressive overhead kick in stoppage time, yet it was little consolation on a day when almost everything went right for Forest and Pereira.
