Chelsea made it back-to-back Premier League victories with a 3-0 win over troubled Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon. Second-half goals from Josh Acheampong, Pedro Neto and captain Reece James saw the Blues build on their last-gasp triumph over Liverpool and heap more misery on under-fire Forest manager Ange Postecoglou at the City Ground.
Feeling the absence of midfield stars Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez – the former on the bench with the latter missing out completely – Chelsea struggled in possession as Forest passed up chances to score through Elliot Anderson and Morgan Gibbs-White. Despite being second best in the first half, the visitors almost took the lead through Andrey Santos but he fired wide of the post.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, in the stands following his red card for wildly celebrating against Liverpool, rang the changes at half-time, bringing on Caicedo, Jamie Gittens and Marc Guiu, and his substitutions were effective in injecting energy into his side’s play. And it didn’t take the Blues long to take the lead in the second half – Acheampong heading home Neto’s pinpoint cross after 49 minutes. The winger was at it again as he doubled his side’s advantage just three minutes later with a free-kick which found its way past Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels.
Forest continued to pose a threat but it was simply not their day in front of goal, as Neco Williams blazed over from close range before Igor Jesus hit the crossbar. And the hosts’ misery was compounded when James netted a third for Chelsea, who were reduced to 10 men when Malo Gusto was sent off late on.
GOAL rates Chelsea’s players from the City Ground…