Jackson caps thriller for Blues to rain on Forest’s parade
A points deduction, the owner leaving the stands to remonstrate with the referee, that post on X and even a cameo from Gladiators’ very own Mark Clattenburg. Nottingham Forest is the most entertaining show in town and they are – almost certainly – coming back for another compelling season hosted by the Premier League.
Needing only a point to confirm their top-flight status, Forest were set to earn all three until Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson changed the direction of the match in Chelsea’s favour to earn a third straight win, although it did little to dampen spirits on the banks of the Trent.
Defeats for Burnley and Luton turned what had been a nervous afternoon into a carnival. Forest fans huddled around TVs on concourses at the City Ground, celebrating victories for Tottenham and West Ham, knowing that only a ludicrous swing in goal difference would lead to relegation for the hosts. When the full-time results were read out during the warm-ups, the noise indicated their significance.
It was a party in the stands, even with the momentary show of disgust towards the Premier League anthem, the crowd knowing they will be able to boo it for another year at least. If Chris Wood had successfully lobbed Djordje Petrovic in the second minute of the match when through on goal, the City Ground might have gone from a party to a full-blown festival but the goalkeeper got his hands to the shot.
There was business for Forest to attend to on the pitch. They looked the sharper of the two teams in the opening stages but that counted for nothing as Chelsea showed their quality in the eighth minute when Cole Palmer threaded a pass between full-back and centreback for Mykhailo Mudryk to latch on to. The Ukrainian has been much maligned since joining from Shakhtar Donetsk but was intelligent with his run and calm with his finish across Matz Sels into the corner.
The cacophony continued unabated and grew louder when Willy Boly headed in the equaliser. The centre-back Murillo, one of Forest’s best signings since being promoted, created a one-man counterattack from a Chelsea corner, leading a 60-yard charge up the pitch before being tripped by Benoît Badiashile. Morgan Gibbs-White chipped the free-kick to the back post where Boly was waiting and watched the ball divert off Conor Gallagher into the net. There was a lengthy VAR check for offside but no reprieve for Chelsea.
Palmer was central to everything Chelsea did, exuding the confidence of a man who was deemed the best player in the league last month.
Every pass was weighted perfectly and he was seeing opportunities that others could not.
Like at the beginning of the match, Forest had more energy in their play at the start of the second half, winning 50-50 challenges and creating the more dangerous openings. The Forest captain, Ryan Yates, scored his first Premier League goal against Sheffield United last week and almost doubled his tally when he swung his left boot at the ball just outside the area, only to see it flick off the outside of a post.
Forest were dangerous on both flanks, resulting in Callum HudsonOdoi chipping a cross to the back post for Gibbs-White to attack but he saw his header hit the post from close range, followed by Chris Wood lumping the rebound into the stand.
Mauricio Pochettino acknowledged his team were not competing across the pitch and turned to Malo Gusto and Christopher Nkunku to bring greater athleticism. It almost made the difference when the full-back Gusto outran the Forest defence down the right, eventually winning a free-kick. Palmer crossed the ball in from the set piece but Thiago Silva’s flick met the post rather than the net.
Hudson-Odoi, with a point to prove to Chelsea, made one of his trademark runs off the left flank before curling a shot beyond the goalkeeper. There was no risk of a polite non-celebration, HudsonOdoi lapped it up in the corner, thinking the job was done.
Sterling copied the trick to level things up soon after and then Reece James, returning after five months out, crossed for Jackson to complete the turnaround.
Some will be hoping for a calmer third season back in the Premier League, many others will not.