Nottm Forest vs Chelsea

Nottm Forest Henderson; Aurier, Worrall, Boly, Renan Lodi; Yates, Freuler, Mangala; Johnson, Awoniyi, Gibbs-White. Substitutes Hennessey, Cook, Williams, ...

"We have to get to a point where we have got a settled group. we have got to get consistency and that's what we are trying to do." Forest 0 Chelsea 1 (Sterling) Pulisic faces up Worrall down the left and opens up his body to whip a right-foot inswinger into the six-yard box. He's as vital to them as Trent Alexander-Arnold is to Liverpool and making do with a winger in there tends to neuter them as attacking forces while leaving the defence vulnerable, with centre-backs shuffling over to try to help and leaving big gaps. He tries to sell Thiago Silva with a shimmy and a stutter but the great centre-back watches the ball and nips it away. "But we are Chelsea and people don't want to hear those reasons or excuses. The Swiss midfielder wriggles through a challenge and then slips the ball to the left of the penalty spot. Chelsea are missing the two players who make them tick – Reece James and Ben Chilwell – while Wesley Fofana and N'Golo Kante continue to recover from the leg injuries that may well have cost France a third World Cup. Mangala wins the ball in midfield and plays it up to Gibbs-White to run through the middle. Forest open in the style of Chelsea by sweeping the ball across the back four before sending Yates forward to play a one-two with Mangala and then knock it up to Freuler. Worrall launches a ball up the right after Pulisic was felled and unsuccessfully appealed for a foul. Kepa is beaten but the ball smashes off the underside of the crossbar and bounces on the Chelsea side of the goalline.

Cesar Azpilicueta returns to the side in place of Reece James for a record-breaking appearance.

The midfield trio also keep their places, with [Denis Zakaria](/en/teams/profile/denis-zakaria) continuing beside [Jorginho](/en/teams/profile/jorginho) and [Mason Mount](/en/teams/profile/mason-mount). [Mateo Kovacic](/en/teams/profile/mateo-kovacic) and [Hakim Ziyech](/en/teams/profile/hakim-ziyech) are both named among the substitutes for the first time since helping their countries reach the World Cup semi-finals, having been rested against Bournemouth. It will be the Spaniard’s 495th game for Chelsea, putting him clear of Petr Cech’s total as our highest overseas appearance maker of all time.

Minute-by-minute report: Will Nottingham Forest start the year in positive fashion against Chelsea? Join Rob Smyth to find out.

[Chelsea](https://www.theguardian.com/football/chelsea) both move up a place, to 18th and 8th respectively. Boly won the second ball and headed it towards Aurier, lurking with intent on the left side of the six-yard box. 67 min Forest have been outstanding since the break – and they’ve shown that they have more than one way to skin a defence. 75 min “Donut Mystery,” is the subject of Joe Pearson’s email (and the name of my solo jazztronica project). “I think the word in question (58 min) is ‘gogosar’. 68 min Lodi’s awkward cross is controlled superbly by Awoniyi at the near post, but he then mishits a left-footed shot. They certainly don’t look right at the moment, and it’s slightly strange to think that they are the current world club champions because they are palpably in transition. 87 min Gibbs-White, such a classy, elusive player, slips Gallagher neatly in midfield to lead another Forest break. Chelsea started well and scored through Raheem Sterling, but they struggled to live with Forest’s greater intensity in the second half and Serge Aurier’s equaliser was well deserved. We’ve started the year well and now we have to continue to fight together to stay in the Premier League. But the summer was the summer and you have to look at where we are now. The manager told us at half-time to believe in ourselves a bit more.

as it happened: live blog, updates, highlights, lineups, comments, etc.

Streaming: Sky Go (UK); Peacock (USA); Hotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA) It’s Azpi’s 495th appearance, passing Petr Čech for sixth on the all-time list. Chelsea mark New Year’s Day with our first trip to the City Ground in the 21st century, with a fixture not seen in over 23 years.

Chelsea kicked off 2023 with more dropped points, as relegation-battling Nottingham Forest came from behind to draw on New Year's Day in the Premier League.

The Gabonese also failed to connect with a cross at the back post for what should've been his moment. But for Chelsea fans, more concerning will be the fact he looks a shadow of the man they bought from Napoli in a defensive sense. Central to Chelsea's best play, the USMNT superstar was a dynamic presence throughout. Boly was in danger of becoming a lightning rod for Forest's issues earlier this season, but performed excellently today, aside from his unfortunate part in the Chelsea goal. Notably, they remain reluctant to get on the back of Steve Cooper, though, directing the vast majority of their anger towards the officials and a small amount to their plucky troops. Having began the season as a traditional No.9, Awoniyi is now being deployed from the left flank, but continued to be a thorn in defenders' sides. The latter was targeted by Awoniyi (more on that later), but Cucurella was perhaps more of a concern. The Blues also extended an unwanted hoodoo by failing to win their first game of a calendar year for the seventh time in succession. Forest showed more bite for the entirety, and constantly made their possession count, threatening both through the middle and via the flanks, looking dangerous on the counter. Still in the early days of his reign, they offered very little spark or inventiveness to try and make an impact without their home comforts. Forest never looked in danger of losing the game after that, with Graham Potter’s men failing to have any concerted pressure late on. The second period began with Forest in the ascendancy once again, with Taiwo Awoniyi and Brennan Johnson both having opportunities to draw them level early on.

Get a report of the Nottingham Forest vs. Chelsea 2022-23 English Premier League football match.

They are now seven points behind [Manchester United](/football/team/_/id/360/manchester-united) in fourth place. [Chelsea](/soccer/team?id=363) lost further ground in their battle to make the Premier League top four as they were held to a 1-1 draw by a stubborn [Nottingham Forest](/soccer/team?id=393) side. The second half we didn't control it well enough." [Brennan Johnson](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/291307/Brennan-Johnson) was sent through on goal by [Morgan Gibbs-White](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/243396/Morgan-Gibbs-White), but [Kepa Arrizabalaga](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/169532/Kepa-Arrizabalaga) got down well to stop the initial shot and the follow-up. [Willy Boly](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/152349/Willy-Boly) bounced off the bar. [Raheem Sterling](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/156366/Raheem-Sterling) put Chelsea ahead at Forest's City Ground in the 16th minute, before [Serge Aurier](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/143576/Serge-Aurier) drew the teams level with an acrobatic finish in the 63rd minute.

Match report and highlights as Nottingham Forest come from behind to claim 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea; Raheem Sterlings close-range finish gave the ...

On the basis of that, a point is the least we deserve. "They used the atmosphere and, certainly in the second half, put us under a lot of pressure. "Our performance level wasn’t good enough to take the three points. We should take a bit of spirit from the performance.” You can't just go after the ball against Chelsea because you'll get played through and you're too open, but you've got to get up to the ball at the right time. Time to call this out - the game is live on Sky Sports. The matter will be fully investigated." The Blues then travel to the Etihad for a rematch with City in the FA Cup third round on Sunday - kick-off at 4.30pm. Chelsea had to expect a reaction after half-time from a Forest side playing in front of a boisterous support, but the way in which they were dominated by opponents who ended the day still in the relegation zone was hugely concerning. A tweet from Chelsea Pride read: "We totally condemn the chant that can be heard at the City Ground. But the Blues were forced to accept a point that does far less for their hopes of finishing in the top four than it does for Forest’s chances of avoiding a return to the Championship. But Graham Potter's side produced a dreadful display in the second 45 minutes that saw them hand the initiative to Forest and leave themselves eighth in the Premier League before a daunting trip to Manchester City on Thursday.

Chelsea fell to a draw against Nottingham Forest in the late kick-off on Sunday in the Premier League.

Does not show for the ball enough to be a number nine. Could be dropped for the next game. One of the worst performances of his career. Not the problem today. Taiwo Awoniyi tore him and Kalidou Koulibaly to shreds down the right side. Done well at times but still seems a bit rusty. Added a bit of control and energy to Chelsea's midfield when he came on but wasn't enough to win the game. Does not move the ball well enough in the middle of the park. Afternoon to forget. It arguably could have been a lot worse for Scored by that was all he done in the game. Forest were the better team for large parts of the clash, and may have scored a lot earlier than they did in the game.