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Chelsea denied Nottingham Forest the chance to celebrate mathematical safety with a rousing late turnaround, winning 3-2.
Forest were leading 2-1 after 80 minutes thanks to goals from Willy Bolly and Callum Hudson-Odoi, which had outdone Mykhailo Mudryk’s early opener for Chelsea.
But goals in rapid succession from Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson curtailed the carnival as Forest are still not mathematically safe, though they are three points of Luton Town with a 12-superior goal difference going into the final day.
Mail Sport’s Kieran Gill brings the player ratings from the City Ground.
Cole Palmer was once again the star of the show for Chelsea, who beat Nottingham Forest 3-2
Chelsea (4-2-3-1)
Djordje Petrovic – 6
Nice leap to stop Chris Wood’s lob but no denying Willy Boly’s header or Callum Hudson-Odoi’s curler.
In truth, only his woodwork stopped Nottingham Forest from scoring more!
Trevoh Chalobah – 6
Up against two old Chelsea academy chums in Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ola Aina and had his hands full.
Moved to centre back once Gusto was introduced in a tactical switch.
Thiago Silva – 7
So close to gifting Chelsea a lead with a flicked header which bounced back off the post.
Defensively, Silva is still Chelsea’s most reliable defender, despite being so close to the exit.
Thiago Silva proved he is still Chelsea’s most reliable defender with a solid performance
Marc Cucurella’s inverted role did not work as well as in previous performances, but Mauricio Pochettino switched it up, to his credit
Benoit Badiashile – 6
Booked for bringing down Murillo to kill a counter-attack and from that free-kick, Nottingham Forest made it 1-1. Later substituted as Chelsea tried to change the direction of this game.
Marc Cucurella – 6
Inverted role did not work as well as it has in previous performances so Chelsea changed their tactics for the second half and to Pochettino’s credit, it worked… eventually.
Moises Caicedo – 6
When he ballooned the ball while trying to find Madueke in first-half stoppage time, that summed up Chelsea’s opening 45 minutes. Not his most commanding game but a win is a win.
Conor Gallagher – 6
Pushed further up the pitch when Cucurella moved into midfield and cautioned for killing a counter-attack. Was substituted, then Chelsea scored twice to secure their turnaround.
Noni Madueke – 5.5
Madueke has been impressive of late but he was largely ineffective here, often losing possession way too cheaply by being too selfish, hence why he was hooked before the hour mark.
Noni Madueke has enjoyed a good run of form but was largely ineffective at the City Ground
Conor Gallagher played a more advanced role when Cururella pushed up into midfield
Cole Palmer – 7.5
The only one who made Chelsea look dangerous for large periods. Super pass to set up Mudryk for 1-0, and could have had another two assists for Jackson and Silva. Chief of creativity.
Mykhailo Mudryk – 6.5
Palmer had the pass and Mudryk had the gas to get on the end of it as he slotted the ball beyond Matz Sels. Yet the Chelsea winger did not have enough of an impact otherwise.
Nicolas Jackson – 7
Was supposed to be marking Willy Boly when he headed in the equaliser.
He made amends for that error at the other end, heading home the cross from James for 3-2.
Nicolas Jackson was at fault for Forest’s equaliser but headed in the winner after a Reece James cross
SUBS
Malo Gusto (for Badiashile, 58) – 6
Facing Hudson-Odoi, the former Chelsea academy boy cut inside and made it 2-1.
Christopher Nkunku (for Madueke, 58) – 6.5
Great to see him back after an injury-ravaged season. Will only get better with time and fitness.
Raheem Sterling (for Mudryk, 73) – 7
Got Chelsea back into this by making it 2-2 when it looked like the hosts were cruising to a win.
Callum Hudson-Odoi curled in a beautiful finish to give his team the lead against his old side
This wasn’t Chelsea’s most controlled performance but Mauricio Pochettino got the result
Reece James (for Gallagher, 79) – N/A
He’s back, and he got the all-important assist within two minutes and 52 seconds of coming on to make it 3-2.
Not used: Marcus Bettinelli, Axel Disasi, Raheem Sterling, Lesley Ugochukwu, Christopher Nkunku, Reece James, Levi Colwill, Malo Gusto, Cesare Casadei.
MANAGER
Mauricio Pochettino – 6.5
Named an unchanged team from their 5-0 win over West Ham. Not the most controlled performance but he will only care that he secured the points.
