Chelsea (A) 06/10/24

 

Chelsea 1-1 Nottingham Forest

Madueke 57'      Wood 49'

 

The first time Chelsea and Forest ever met was the 6th of October 1906 in a 1-1 draw at the City Ground. Exactly 118 years later, the two sides met again in a game that had it all: goals, a red card, a fight and incredible saves.

Fulham had ended Forest’s start to the season last weekend. As for the Blues, their only defeat so far was on opening day to reigning champions, Manchester City. Since their 2021/22 promotion Forest were undefeated in their visits to Stamford Bridge with a draw and a win. Chelsea fielded an unchanged side and Nuno’s side welcomed back Morgan Gibbs-White and Callum Hudson-Odoi to their starting 11.

After the tune of ‘Liquidator’, the Forest got the game under way. The game started slowly with Chelsea dominating possession. Neither team really got going in attack;  the combined XG standing at 0.11 after half an hour. The first real chance fell at the feet of Murillo as late as the 39th minute. As Chelsea looked to break, Murillo put in a strong tackle at the half way line to prevent putting his back line in danger. Yet to score his first goal in the Garibaldi, he drove forward himself and unleashed a powerful strike at goal met well by Robert Sanchez. Forest’s only other chance came for Ryan Yates who had an open net to shoot at, following work down the left, but Levi Colwill put in a brave block to stop him.

Chelsea had a chance of their own to score which left the Forest faithful with their hearts in their mouths. A loose touch from Murillo’s invited Noni Madueke to steal the ball back, leaving Forest’s number 5 sprinting back to fix his mistake. Madueke broke into the box and pulled the ball back for Cole Palmer around 10 yards from goal. It looked a certain goal, but Ola Aina came to Forest’s rescue putting in a tackle just as Palmer struck the ball. It went through the legs of both Alex Moreno and Sels before hitting the post. The ball looked to be trickling over the goal line, but the Forest goalkeeper scooped the ball away just in time. Phew!

The second half made up for a boring first half. The Reds took the lead 4 minutes in. Just into Chelsea’s half, James Ward-Prowse lofted in a free-kick towards the back post. Nikola Milenkovic had wriggled free of his marker, heading down for an on running Chris Wood. He slid in and got his toe to the ball to steer it into the bottom right corner, sending the away end wild. Forest’s lead only lasted 8 minutes with Madueke finding the equaliser. Palmer found the winger on the right who cut inside onto his left and fired into the bottom left corner beyond the glove of Sels.

The game became more end to end, meaning two sets of nervy fans. But as the Reds went down to 10 men with 12 minutes left of the 90, the Forest supporters felt the fear more. Ward-Prowse failed to control a pass from Gibbs-White and Nicolas Jackson pounced on the opportunity, looking to be going one on one with Sels but Ward-Prowse dived on the ball and scooped it in his arms. He couldn’t argue with the second yellow or the first, where he stopped a promising counter attack, and was sent walking down the tunnel.

With just 3 minutes until the 90 was up, Sels was called into action producing 2 huge saves, both from Palmer. Madueke passed to Palmer in a more central position on the edge of the box, his deft touch turning it round substitute Morato’s body.  Chelsea’s starman latched onto the ball inside the box, but Sels made himself big to prevent a Chelsea lead. He had to react quickly as Palmer recovered the ball but the Forest ‘keeper made second brilliant save from a tight angle.

The drama didn’t stop there. A brawl broke out between both players following a collision between Neco Williams and Marc Cucarella which sent Enzo Maresca flying. Jackson seemed to slap Morato but it wasn’t deemed ‘violent conduct’ by VAR. 13 minutes was added on as the feisty encounter continued.

Up one end, Christopher Nkunku lofted in a ball which Joao Felix got up well to meet. His header drifted agonisingly wide. Just moments later, at the other end, Williams found himself facing Sanchez after linking up with Elanga. He shot for the far top corner but the Chelsea ‘keeper met his effort well. Back at the other end in a manic stoppage time, Sels was back to making point saving saves. Mykhailo Mudryk sprinted down the left side before whipping in a delightful ball for Nkunku who ran free of Murillo. He attempted to head into the bottom right corner but Sels pulled off an unbelievable save to keep the ball out. Just when we thought the drama was over, Forest looked to have won it with the final kick of the game. Murillos free-kick attempt went out for a corner and it looked like Forest were going to keep the ball to make the clock tick down. However, the ball was passed to Aina who crossed for Jota Silva. The substitute leaped up to meet it with a header which looked to be nestling into the far corner but Sanchez pulled out another incredible save to keep the game level.

And breathe…

Sunday’s point was absolutely brilliant. To hold on for that chaotic stoppage time being a man down is something to be really proud of. Sels was the very clear man of the match having a Brice Samba-esque performance. Yatesy was also brilliant in midfield and Milenkovic was solid at centre back again. We can look back and think we had the chances to win the game but so did Chelsea so a draw was the fair result. Our defence is the joint second best in the league so far and we have gotten better at seeing results out and looking less likely to concede. It is good news Morgan should be back for Palace as that should be a game we are winning. Another international break to wait out and then back to it.

 

Forest: Sels; Moreno (Williams 82'), Murillo, Milenkovic, Aina; Yates, Ward-Prowse; Anderson (Jota Silva 66'), Gibbs-White (Dominguez 76'), Hudson-Odoi (Elanga 82'); Wood (Morato 82')

 

Chelsea; Sanchez; Cucurella, Colwill (Adarabioyo 90'), Fofana, Gusto; Fernandez (Nkunku 81'), Caicedo; Sancho (Mudryk 90'), Palmer, Madueke (Neto 90'); Jackson (Felix 81')