Since the successive losses away to Liverpool and at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers on the 31st of January and 4th of February 2024, Chelsea has played 13 games in the Premier League with one loss and five draws.
Within that period, the club has scored 35 goals at an average of 2.7 goals a game. They’ve also conceded 17 goals in the same time frame. Chelsea has also won two of the seven away games they’ve played in that period, and drawn four of them.
After the 4-2 loss to Wolves, Chelsea was in 11th position. Since then, after accumulating 26 points from a possible 39, the club has climbed up four places to 7th.
Chelsea would need to win the two remaining games of the season while hoping that the results of Newcastle’s two remaining games which are against Manchester United and Brentford, both away from home, would go in their favor.
Chelsea’s Early Lead Undone By A Forest Set-piece
As early as the 2nd minute of the first half, Chris Wood broke Chelsea’s offside trap and was through on goal with Benoit Badiashile chasing behind him. ?or?e Petrovi? came off his line quickly and stood tall to smother the Forest attacker’s attempt at a lob.
Within the first four minutes, Nottingham Forest had three corners that got headed over the bar, but at the turn of seven minutes, Chelsea’s hero all season, Cole Palmer, spotted the run of Mykhailo Mudryk behind Forest’s defense and played a defense-splitting pass to him. The attacker then cut into the box and slotted the ball past Matz Sels.
After that, Forest kept making attempts at Chelsea’s goal even though Chelsea had the majority of the possession. In the 15th minute, Badiashile fouled Murillo. Morgan Gibbs-White then took the free-kick which Willy Boly headed into Petrovic’s net.
Hudson-Odoi Scores Against His Former Club
In the 57th minute of the second half, Hudson-Odoi put in a cross into a crowded Chelsea 6-yard box. Gibbs-White then headed the ball against the right upright, with the ball ricocheting into the path of Chris Wood who sent it over from less than two yards.
Six minutes later, Palmer flighted in a perfectly weighted cross from a free-kick. Thiago Silva rose highest to send a glancing header agonizingly into the base of the left upright.
Five minutes later, Hudson-Odoi passed the ball to Ola Aina who was on the edge of the Chelsea penalty area. From there, Aina fired narrowly wide of the right-hand post. Two minutes later, Hudson-Odoi hit the bar from a similar position.
In the 73rd minute, the ball came down Forest’s left side again through Hudson-Odoi. This time, the attacker cut into the box on his right foot and bent the ball around Malo Gusto, who was keeping pace with him, into the far right corner of the net to send the home side ahead.
Also Read: Top 3 Amazing Goal Contributors in the English Premier League 2023-24 Season
Pochettino’s Substitutes Make The Difference
One minute before Hudson-Odoi scored, Mauricio Pochettino had replaced Mykhailo Mudryk with Raheem Sterling. Six minutes later, he replaced Conor Gallagher with Reece James, who was playing his first match after five months of being out with injury.
One minute after coming on, Reece James received the ball on the right side of the pitch and gave it to Moises Caicedo who switched play to the left side of the pitch with a pass to Raheem Sterling. Sterling then cut inside on his right foot past Aina and curled a shot into the right bottom corner of the Forest goal, similar to Hudson-Odoi’s goal.
Two minutes later, it was that combination of Reece James and Moises Caicedo again. This time, Gusto played a shot pass to Caicedo at the center circle, which Caicedo launched immediately into the path of James who was already running down the right side of the pitch, into the Forest box.
James sent a floated cross immediately into the 6-yard box, over the heads of three Forest defenders and Matz Sels, into the path of the oncoming Nicolas Jackson. Jackson headed it into the net to give Chelsea a 3-2 lead.
With a 3-2 win, Chelsea came level on points with Newcastle who had played out a 1-1 draw with Burnley earlier in the day, only behind them on goal difference.
About the Author
Ebenezer has been an avid writer for over a decade and a half. Within that period, he has garnered experience in various fields such as editing, graphics design, transcribing, sales, data analysis, and football management.
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