SPENT FORCE
Billion blown at the Bridge but Forest make Blues pay
MAURICIO POCHETTINO did warn it will be a while before Chelsea start to look like how much they have cost.
Though he might not have expected more forceful evidence that backed up his tempering of expectations to come so quickly and against Nottingham Forest.
A day after Chelsea’s spending under their new owners ticked past the £1billion mark following the £42.5million arrival of Cole Palmer from Manchester City, Steve Cooper’s side turned up at Stamford Bridge and left with their first win here since 1995 and just their second on the road in 22 attempts since they returned to the Premier League last season.
As they have been under Pochetttino, Chelsea were the dominant side. But they made one big mistake in possession which was clinically punished by one of Forest’s own summer signings, substitute Anthony Elanga, and failed to make the most of the promising situations they created themselves.
The best of them by far fell to Nicolas Jackson, who endured a day to forget and could only produce a miss-of-the-season contender from inside the six-yard box, somehow scooping Raheem Sterling’s cut back over an unguarded net.
It was a blown chance to level late on and summed up Chelsea’s lack of ruthlessness against Forest who defended defiantly to protect their hard-earned lead.
In the end, Chelsea ran out ideas, even after Palmer, Noni Madueke and Mykhailo Mudryk were thrown on and the final whistle was greeted with boos.
Just one league win, two defeats and one draw from their opening four league games would not have been the return expected following the latest expensive overhaul.
Pochettino said: ‘I understand the fans want to win. I understand we are in Chelsea and we should win every single game.’
The first half was full of near misses for both sides but especially Chelsea, a sign of things to come. The pattern began just two minutes in after Jackson passed up the chance to shoot but Ben Chilwell crossed for in-form Sterling. He seemed all set for a simple tap-in until Ola Aina came to Forest’s rescue with a brilliantly timed challenge.
Forest’s threat during the half had come mainly from set-pieces. Twice in five minutes they threatened. From the first free-kick dropped deep into their box, Chelsea failed to clear and Joe Worrall could not keep his volley down, sending it over.
The second opportunity fell to a far more likely scorer in Taiwo Awoniyi but he could only hook his acrobatic volley wide.
An open-play opportunity finally arrived for the visitors early in the second half and from it they scored. They were given a bit of assistance from Chelsea. Conor Gallagher and Moises Caicedo failed to get the ball under control in the midfield and, under pressure, the former could only play a pass to Awoniyi.
The Forest striker cleverly slipped the ball through Thiago Silva’s legs to put Elanga through and he sidefooted Forest ahead, his first goal since his move from Man United.
Pochettino turned to Palmer and Madueke off his bench and the former quickly got the Chelsea crowd off their seats with some quick feet and his willingness to run with the ball.
Almost all of the final 20 minutes were played out deep in Forest’s half and when Sterling dribbled to the byline and pulled the ball back with seven minutes left, Jackson appeared to have the simplest of tasks.
Keeper Matt Turner was grounded — having come out to close the angle down as Sterling raced through — and the Bridge held its breath. But, falling back, Jackson could only lift the ball over the bar and that was as close as Chelsea came to snatching a point. Forest boss Cooper paid tribute to Worrall after his captain ‘put himself second for the club’.
Worrall’s uncle was the police sergeant, Graham Saville, who was killed last month when hit by a train while trying to save a man in distress.
‘Worrall has been incredible’, said Cooper. ‘He has put himself second for the club. It has given him a release.
‘The guys showed him a huge amount of respect for what he has been through and I cannot speak highly enough of the man.’