Awoniyi Brace Hands Forest Shock Win At Woeful Chelsea
Nottingham Forest stunned woeful Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge to go six points clear of the Premier League relegation zone and send a warning shot to Aston Villa ahead of Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg.
Nottingham Forest’s second-string squad took a significant step towards Premier League survival by defeating Chelsea for the sixth time in a row.
Forest manager Vitor Pereira made eight changes for Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg against Aston Villa, but two goals from Taiwo Awoniyi and Igor Jesus helped the visitors build a six-point cushion over 18th-placed West Ham in the relegation zone.
READ ALSO: Carter Efe Beats Portable In Celebrity Boxing Match
Chelsea, however, grabbed a late consolation goal through striker Joao Pedro, narrowly avoided setting a club record by going six league games without scoring for the first time in its history.
Their miserable afternoon was summed up when Cole Palmer missed a first-half penalty after academy winger Jesse Derry, 18, had a serious-looking head injury in his maiden senior debut.
This was Chelsea’s first Premier League encounter following Liam Rosenior’s dismissal, with interim manager Calum McFarlane, who led the team to a 1-0 FA Cup semi-final victory over Leeds United last week, taking command for the first time at Stamford Bridge.
Forest took the lead in just two minutes, with Awoniyi heading home unmarked after winger Dilane Bakwa beat Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella with a well-placed cross.
The same Forest duo teamed again in the 15th minute to win a penalty – Malo Gusto drew Awoniyi back in the area as he sought to reach Bakwa’s cross, and Igor Jesus converted the resulting spot-kick down the center.
It came after a video assistant referee (VAR) inspection, and Gusto may have been fortunate not to receive a red card.
Enzo Fernandez struck the post, and Igor Jesus forced a wonderful save at the other end, before Derry won a penalty for Chelsea after a terrible head contact with Zach Abbott, which resulted in a six-minute stoppage and the substitution of both academy products.
Palmer’s low penalty kick to the corner was then saved by Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels at full stretch.
Chelsea brought on striker Liam Delap for Derry and returning defender Levi Colwill at halftime, but they conceded again seven minutes later when Awoniyi knocked in substitute Morgan Gibbs-White’s low cross.
Gibbs-White was later involved in another violent altercation with Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, and both players were forced to leave with their bleeding heads bandaged.
Joao Pedro also had a goal almost called out for offside late on, but he scored a fantastic overhead kick in stoppage time to end Chelsea’s more than 550-minute league goal drought, which began in early March.
Forest remain 16th, but their survival chances have improved dramatically, while Chelsea are ninth and 10 points below the Champions League positions, with qualification set as a goal at the start of the season.
