EPL: Nottingham Forest defeats Chelsea at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea suffered their second defeat of the season during a home match against Nottingham Forest today, September 2.
Chelsea dominated possession but created few chances against Steve Cooper’s side who only needed one counterattack to win.
While Enzo Fernandez went close with a couple of long-range efforts, Super Eagles star Taiwo Awoniyi flashed two shots wide from close range.
In the second half, Forest was 1-0 up after sloppy Chelsea play allowed Anthony Elanga in for a well-taken first goal for his new side. The ex-Manchester United forward’s intelligent running bamboozled Chelsea’s defence in his 45-minute star turn, showing natural kinesis with Awoniyi and Morgan Gibbs-White.
Mauricio Pochettino then handed Cole Palmer his debut as the pressure grew on the home side to start performing, but they continued to labour in front of solid Forest defending.
Nicolas Jackson had a great chance to level only to shin over from close range. Thiago Silva also went close as the clock ticked towards the final whistle and Raheem Sterling drilled an effort wide deep into stoppage time, but Forest held on for a famous victory.
The Reds’ win at Stamford Bridge is their first victory at Chelsea since January 1995. It is also just a second Premier League win on the road since earning promotion from the Championship in 2022. The result lifted Nottingham Forest to ninth on the Premier League table.
The three points at Chelsea have perhaps not come out of the blue, Forest’s other two away performances this season were much improved to the previous campaign with narrow defeats at Arsenal and Manchester United.
The result left Chelsea with more defeats than wins on their league tally so far, with four points gained from a possible 12. That means it’s Chelsea’s worst start to a Premier League season since 1995/96.
