Chelsea’s fading Champions League hopes suffered another crushing blow on Monday as Nottingham Forest stunned the Blues 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, with Taiwo Awoniyi leading the charge in a ruthless away display.
Forest struck almost immediately and never looked back. Just two minutes into the contest, Awoniyi rose above Chelsea’s defence to head home Dilane Bakwa’s cross and silence the home crowd.
The visitors doubled their lead in the 15th minute after Malo Gusto brought down Awoniyi in the box. Igor Jesus stepped up and calmly converted the penalty to put Forest firmly in control.
Chelsea struggled to respond and looked flat for long stretches. Their best opening of the first half came from the penalty spot, but Cole Palmer failed to spark a comeback as Matz Sels saved his effort after debutant Jesse Derry was fouled inside the area.
Forest returned from the break with the same intensity and struck again seven minutes into the second half. Morgan Gibbs-White picked out Awoniyi inside the box and the Nigerian forward tapped home his second of the afternoon to make it 3-0.
Chelsea thought they had pulled one back when Joao Pedro headed home from close range, but VAR ruled the effort out for offside. The Brazilian eventually got on the scoresheet in stoppage time with a superb bicycle kick, though it did little to change the mood at Stamford Bridge.
The result leaves Chelsea reeling after a sixth straight defeat, with their hopes of reaching next season’s Champions League now hanging by a thread.
For Forest, it was a huge result in their fight for survival and one driven by Awoniyi, whose early aggression, movement and finishing tore Chelsea apart from the opening whistle.
Chelsea now head into the final stretch under mounting pressure, while Forest leave west London with three vital points and a major lift in their battle to stay in the Premier League.
