Premier League; Chelsea 3-2 Nottingham Forest, Nicolas Jackson and Raheem Sterling boost the Blues’ chances of Winning European Football

After two and a half games of tough, beautiful football, Chelsea reverted to more customary fare against Forest, certainly in the first half. Forest, whose survival was assured before kick-off thanks to Luton Town’s defeat, should have taken the lead within two minutes — one of eight shots they had in the first 25 minutes, all of which were threatening scoring opportunities.

But they only used one of them, with Willy Boly heading in comfortably after some dreadful set piece defence on 16 minutes. The sole saving grace of Chelsea’s first-half performance was some of Cole Palmer’s passing, which set up Mudryk’s early goal (great finish as well) and another fantastic chance that Jackson missed later on.

Pochettino made a few modifications in the second half, and things improved slightly. Woodwork came to Forest’s rescue when Thiago Silva’s glanced header bounded off. Forest remained threatening on the counter, but Hudson-Odoi took advantage, as one might expect. After seeing one chance deflect onto the bar, he made no mistake with the next, curving it brilliantly around his marker, the goalkeeper, and into the far side of the net.

Chelsea reacted quickly, with Raheem Sterling netting an almost identical goal to Hudson-Odoi’s with just 10 minutes remaining. We were back in front in less than two minutes, thanks to a picture-perfect cross from Reece James that Jackson headed in. He couldn’t miss it! Seven minutes were added, but it remained at 3-2 till the game ended.