This was a dismal day for Chelsea.
Nottingham Forest started most of their second string, but still came away from Stamford Bridge with a 3-1 win to ease their own relegation troubles. The fear is, instead, with Chelsea as this group succumbed to their sixth league defeat in a row, their worst record since 1993. Chelsea came into this season as Club World Champions and with three league matches and the FA Cup final to go, there are no guarantees they'll be in Europe next season.
Chelsea eventually got their goal in added time to end their drought of over eight hours in the league without scoring but for so much of this, they looked hapless. There were so many moments which summed this up but about five minutes after Nottingham Forest tapped home their third against Chelsea, Marc Cucurella had the ball on the left wing with several teammates to aim at. He looked up, saw Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernández, João Pedro and Liam Delap calling for the ball, and promptly sent his cross out for a throw-in on the opposite side of the field.
It was symptomatic of Chelsea's performance. This was a grim day for the club, on an occasion which was set up so beautifully for them to bring some good feeling back to this corner of south west London after yet another rollercoaster season which has seen Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior depart and Calum McFarlane back in the interim hot seat for the second time.
They faced a Nottingham Forest side 16th in the league, showing eight changes from the team which started their Europa League semifinal. Surely this was Chelsea's moment to snap their five-match wait for a result? And they had Levi Colwill and Reece James on the bench, with 18-year-old winger Jesse Shaun Derry starting. It was all there. Until it wasn't.
Instead, it was a calamitous match: Derry, on his first league start, was stretchered off with an awful head injury, Robert Sánchez was also forced off and Cole Palmer missed a penalty, in front of the watching Thomas Tuchel. But above all, they were comfortably outplayed by Forest. The only bright sparks for the hosts was the return of Colwill for his first appearance this season, the performance of Derry and Pedro's acrobatic consolation goal. But that won't be the long-lasting memory from this. No, instead it will be the sound of disgruntlement every time Chelsea passed the ball backwards, and the cacophony of boos which greeted both the half-time and full-time whistle from those who remained in the stands.
For so much of the match, all you could hear at Stamford Bridge were sporadic shouts of sheer frustration from the crowd, rarely breaking through the song of Forest fans singing about everything from how the reds are staying up, to how physically imposing Nikola Milenkovic is. By full time, empty Chelsea seats pockmarked the stadium, and those left were singing in agreement with Forest fans about how poor their team were.
This all jarred with the hints of recovery after Chelsea's 1-0 win over Leeds in the FA Cup semifinal last weekend. It was an improved performance after the club sacked Rosenior, days after what they felt was their nadir in the 3-0 defeat to Brighton. But that semifinal was a false dawn. This was the real Chelsea as it stands: a team lacking confidence, physically outmuscled, unsure of how they're meant to be playing and a group of impressive individuals without any sense whatsoever of cohesion. McFarlane stood on the touchline emotionless, mouth downturned and looking like he wanted to be anywhere else in the world rather than managing one of the biggest clubs in the world.
A season in football can turn a manager grey, but that optimism back at the start of the campaign when Maresca was in charge must seem like it's from another time. Remember that Chelsea? The one in the Champions League, who were Club World Champions and wore their gold badge proudly on their shirt? Nine months on, the gold badge is still there, but the optimism is long gone. An FA Cup triumph would add gloss to this campaign, but it's going to take some going to turn these boos into cheers.
Alongside Colwill's return, his first minutes after picking up an ACL injury last August, mention must be made of Derry's performance. For the 45 minutes he was on the pitch, he showed his far more experienced teammates the spirit needed to bring some life to this shaking project. They were his first minutes in the league and he played with wonderful vigour and eagerness. It was his efforts to keep the ball in to tee up the move which led to Fernandez hitting the post in Chelsea's best opportunity up until Pedro's goal. It was also his brevity which led to their first-half penalty as he challenged Abbott in the air for the ball, only to be left knocked out cold and stretchered off. Palmer's penalty was well-saved by Matz Sels.
Watching Palmer miss was another moment where even the most reliable sides of Chelsea's game disintegrated. Pedro's finish in the 92nd minute was acrobatic and a reminder of the talent here, but it was far too late to have any material impact on the match. That was the first time they showed any real punch, in front of the watching Khabib Nurmagomedov.
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For Forest, this match came four days after their Europa League semifinal first leg 1-0 win over Aston Villa and just 24 hours after Villa made seven changes and collapsed to a 2-0 defeat to relegation rivals Spurs. Forest went one better and made eight switches. It was risky from Vitor Pereira -- defeat could destabilise momentum, and keep Forest trapped in the relegation battle. But any fears were abated after just 97 seconds as Taiwo Awoniyi headed home. Igor Jesus then added another from the spot in the 15th minute, after Malo Gusto tugged at Awoniyi's shirt. Pereira then brought on Elliot Anderson, Morgan Gibbs-White and Milenkovic at half time, and Forest added a third through Awoniyi in the 52nd minute.
The only blemish on this afternoon was Gibbs-White being forced off after a clash of heads with Sanchez in the second-half -- he and Abbott are doubts for Thursday's second leg at Villa Park.
This was yet another match where you were left wondering exactly what Chelsea are. They have a FA Cup final to look forward to, but that should not paper over the cracks of a season that promised much, but has fallen apart. This was meant to be the afternoon where Chelsea got things back on track. But instead it was Forest who put in a season-defining performance.
