Chelsea had a far from stellar performance in this match, but the excellence of their stars earned them a full three points.

Nottingham Forest players entered this match amidst the context that all their relegation rivals had stumbled. Meanwhile, Chelsea desperately needed a win to secure a European cup spot for the next season.

With a relaxed mindset, Forest immediately pressed their opponents after the opening whistle. In the second minute, forward Chris Wood found himself facing goalkeeper Đorđe Petrović. He attempted a purposeful chip shot but lacked power, allowing Petrović to make the save.

Forest played extremely hard.

However, in their first dangerous attack, Chelsea opened the scoring in the 8th minute. Mykhaylo Mudryk found the net with a clever run into the central channel and a beautifully placed shot.

Unfortunately, the joy of Chelsea’s fans didn’t last long. In the 15th minute, from a set-piece situation, defender Boly rose high to head in the equalizer for Forest.

In the 34th minute, Chelsea’s loose defense forgot to mark Callum Hudson-Odoi. The former Chelsea player made a lightning-fast run and almost found himself face to face with Petrovic. Luckily, Conor Gallagher committed a tactical foul and accepted a yellow card.

At the end of the first half, Nicolas Jackson had a chance to face Sels. Unfortunately, this striker’s shot lacked power.

After halftime, Forest surged with overwhelming momentum. Within the first 15 minutes of the second half, Chelsea’s goal was shaken twice. However, the shots from Ryan Yates and Morgan Gibbs-White failed to beat Chelsea’s crossbar and posts.

In the 74th minute, after intense pressure, the home team took the lead thanks to Hudson-Odoi’s goal. His shot sliced through a forest of Chelsea defenders and left goalkeeper Petrovic helpless.

However, that goal hurt Chelsea’s pride. In the 81st minute, Raheem Sterling clung to hope of securing a win for The Blues with a decisive shot inside the penalty area.

Two minutes later, Nicolas Jackson positioned himself at the far post to meet his teammate’s cross. This time, from a distance of only about 5 meters, Jackson finally scored with a header that couldn’t be stopped.

Jackson continued to score goals.

In a last-ditch effort, with nothing to lose, Forest pushed their team forward and went all-out in the 7 minutes of stoppage time. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find the equalizing goal in the remaining time.

With 3 points from this round, Chelsea leveled the gap with Newcastle, who only managed to secure 1 point against Brighton. Mauricio Pochettino’s team is currently in 7th place, trailing their opponents only on goal difference and is now quite close to securing a European cup spot.

Final score: Forest 2-3 Chelsea