Chelsea 1-3 Nottingham Forest: Player ratings from Stamford Bridge after Taiwo Awoniyi extends the Blues’ miserable run of games without a win in the Premier League.
Taiwo Awoniyi fired Nottingham Forest to a dominant win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Monday afternoon. The Blues have now lost each of their last six games in the Premier League, putting any chance of qualification to either of UEFA’s three club competitions in jeopardy.
Nottingham Forest began in the ascendancy, and it didn’t take the visitors long to go ahead, with Taiwo Awoniyi heading the ball past Robert Sanchez from close range. Vitor Pereira’s side doubled their lead a few moments later from the spot, when Malo Gusto was penalised for having a tug on the goalscorer’s shirt inside the box.
Following a review by the Video Assistant Referee and a subsequent trip to the pitchside monitor, Anthony Taylor awarded Forest a penalty, which was comfortably dispatched by Igor Jesus. Shortly before the break, Cole Palmer squandered the chance to reduce the deficit.
Matz Sels denied the Chelsea midfielder from 12-yards after a lengthy break in play. The Blues were awarded a penalty when Zach Abbott clashed heads with Jesse Derry, who required immediate on-field medical attention and was eventually stretchered off.
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Forest piled on the misery at the start of the second half. Awoniyi netted his second of the afternoon when Morgan Gibbs-White broke free from midfield, catching Chelsea outnumbered at the back.
Joao Pedro pulled one back in stoppage time, pulling off a brilliant bicycle kick, but it wasn’t enough to ignite a comeback of any sort. So, with that being said, Jake Stokes of football.london has rated each and every Chelsea player’s performance.
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Starting Lineup
Robert Sanchez – 5
Sanchez has been heavily scrutinised for a while now, but there’s nothing he could have done to stop Forest from breaking the deadlock, let alone from doubling the deficit.
Marc Cucurella – 4
Cucurella had a difficult afternoon. Dilane Bakwa, who set up the opener, beat the Chelsea defender on more than one occasion.
Trevoh Chalobah – 4
Awoniyi peeled off Chalobah to find space at the back post when he gave Forest the lead after just a couple of minutes.
Tosin Adarabioyo – 4
“Slow down,” shouted Tosin shortly after Chelsea went behind in the first half, which is ironic after a sloppy start. Of course, the Blues defender wanted his teammates to take greater care in possession and build some momentum, but that counts for very little when the problem lies closer to home.
Malo Gusto – 3
Gusto conceded the penalty that gifted Forest the chance to double their lead, making a careless foul inside the box. He also didn’t cover himself in glory for the opener, having made no attempt to defend the space created by Chalobah at the back post.
That said, Gusto did produce a couple of nice crosses in the second half, but there wasn’t much to write home about. That was about it!
Moises Caicedo – 4
Caicedo was partly at fault for the third goal of the afternoon, losing his marker, Morgan Gibbs-White, as Forest broke free in-behind. Generally speaking, Chelsea struggled to break down the opposition’s low-block, and neither he, Lavia, or Fernandez found a solution to the problem.
Romeo Lavia – 4
Lavia kept it ticking in midfield too, but he was guilty of playing ‘safe’ on a couple of occasions. That’s according to the home support, whose groans quickly became choice words that I can’t repeat when he passed backwards rather than forwards.
Jesse Derry – 5
Derry was given a proper introduction to life in the Premier League. The Chelsea winger rarely backed down from the chance to take on the opposition full-back, despite not much success.
It was his grit, determination, and fearlessness that won the Blues a penalty just before the break, though, challenging Zach Abbott to an aerial duel that many would have backed down from. Hopefully, he’s okay.
Enzo Fernandez – 5
Fernandez created many of the very few chances that Chelsea created in the first half. The Blues midfielder wasn’t afraid to get on the ball, but he had little to no success in reducing the deficit.
Cole Palmer – 3
Palmer hardly had a sniff. The Chelsea midfielder was nowhere to be seen. The Blues needed someone to step up to the plate and drag them out of this rut, but he didn’t turn up. Missing the penalty didn’t help his confidence at all. A bright spark at the end wasn’t enough.
Joao Pedro – 6
Although Pedro didn’t get on the ball as much as McFarlane would’ve liked him to in the first half, he showed promise. When the ball did finally fall to the Chelsea striker in the box, he scored… from an offside position. Ouch.
Although it didn’t count for much, Pedro scored an absolute worldie of a bicycle kick in stoppage time.
Substitutes
Liam Delap – 5
Delap was hardly involved. The Chelsea striker chased a couple of stray passes, but he had little to no action in the Forest box.
Levi Colwill – 5
This was not the return to football that Colwill would have hoped for. McFarlane can’t have asked for much more from the Chelsea defender. Just good to see him back on the pitch.
Andrey Santos – 5
Santos exchanged a couple of nice passes with Fernandez on one occasion to beat the press. Otherwise, the Chelsea midfielder was just keeping it ticking and passing sideways when fronted by a low-block.
Filip Jorgensen – 5
Jorgensen didn’t have much to do.
The Chelsea starting lineup: Robert Sanchez (Filip Jorgensen – 67′); Marc Cucurella, Trevoh Chalobah, Tosin Adarabioyo (Levi Colwill – 45′), Malo Gusto; Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia (Andrey Santos 58′); Jesse Derry (Liam Delap – 45+9′), Enzo Fernandez, Cole Palmer; Joao Pedro.
