Nottingham Forest boost survival hopes with stunning win over Chelsea

LONDON: Nottingham Forest moved a significant step closer to Premier League safety with an impressive 3–1 victory over Chelsea here at Stamford Bridge on Monday, dealing a serious blow to the hosts’ hopes of securing Champions League qualification.

Taiwo Awoniyi marked his 100th appearance for Forest in style, opening the scoring inside two minutes with a powerful close-range header after meeting Dilane Bakwa’s cross.

Forest quickly doubled their lead when Igor Jesus converted from the penalty spot after a foul was confirmed following a VAR review.

Chelsea’s woes deepened just before half-time when Cole Palmer saw his penalty well saved by Matz Sels, summing up a frustrating first half for the Blues.

Awoniyi struck again early in the second period, calmly finishing from Morgan Gibbs-White’s pass to put the visitors firmly in control.

Joao Pedro’s spectacular late bicycle kick offered little more than consolation for Chelsea, whose dismal run now includes six consecutive league defeats, their worst since 1993.

Despite finally ending a six-game scoring drought, the performance did little to lift the gloom around Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea remain ninth in the table and are now 10 points adrift of fifth-placed Aston Villa, leaving their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread.

Meanwhile, Forest’s third straight league win lifts them six points clear of the relegation zone, putting survival firmly within reach with three matches remaining.

It is pertinent to mention that Chelsea coach Calum McFarlane said that they were "nowhere near the level" in the first 15 minutes of the game.

"Yeah, really disappointed with the performance, disappointed with the result. I don't think we've ever got to our level today that we know we're capable of," McFarlane said.

"I thought the first 15 minutes we were nowhere near the level we needed to be. I thought the early goal was a bit of a sucker punch and we didn't seem to really recover from that moment.

"When we did recover and we had moments, Enzo [Fernandez] hits the post, Cole misses a penalty, Joao's offside goal.

"When you start that badly, you need those moments to go your way to give you a chance to fight back into the game.

"But ultimately the first 15 minutes was not acceptable."