Chelsea got the Premier League back underway after the October international break on Saturday as they secured a 3-0 victory against Nottingham Forest at The City Ground that cost Ange Postecoglou his job after just eight games in charge.
An array of errors summed up the first half for the Blues as they consistently gave the ball away despite their dominance of possession, and they were lucky to go in at half-time with the scores level after the home side failed to take advantage of their chances.
Chelsea wasted no time in making changes at the break as manager Enzo Maresca, who was sit in the stands as he was serving a suspension, made a triple substitution at the break. That decision provided an instant impact as Josh Acheampong headed Pedro Neto’s cross past Mat Selz minutes into the second half, before substitute Marc Guiu won a free kick that Neto converted to make it 2-0.
Neco Williams should have got Forest back into it with a volley that he smashed over, before substitute Igor Jesus connected with a cross but was denied by the underside of the bar. Chelsea punished Ange Postecoglou’s side for their wastefulness as they put the game out of reach when Reece James scored on his 200th appearance for the club.
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Positives
Pedro Neto was Chelsea’s brightest player in the first half, before he registered a goal and an assist after the break. The Blues were also impressive from set-pieces, which proved to be significant on the day.
Negatives
There were too many careless mistakes during build-up made in the first half that a more in-form team would have punished. A red card for Malo Gusto, with Chelsea 3-0 up in the final minutes of the match, was also unnecessary.
Manager rating out of 10
Enzo Maresca, 6 — Assistant coach Willy Caballero was in the dugout as Maresca was forced to watch from a distance. Both collaborated well to get their side over the line, but their initial gameplan wasn’t good enough in the first half.
Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best, players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)
GK Robert Sánchez 6 — The Chelsea goalkeeper got a strong hand to a header from Nikola Milenkovic in the 65th minute, which was his first big save to make after Forest had previously missed the target with their efforts.
DF Marc Cucurella 6 — Aggressive in the challenge but sometimes had to be more aware of the positioning of Forest right-back Williams, who was unmarked when missing Forest’s best chance of the game in the second half.
DF Josh Acheampong 7 — Acheampong responded well following a shaky first half during which he wasn’t as assured during the build-up phase. He met Neto’s cross with a powerful header that left the goalkeeper with no chance for Chelsea’s opener.
DF Trevoh Chalobah 5 — Chelsea struggled to progress the ball forwards from the back in an unconvincing display. Lucky not to be punished by Forest wastefulness in the first half.
DF Reece James 7 — There wasn’t much for James to deal with as the majority of Forest’s attacks came through mistakes in central areas, but he did try to get forward to support Neto, taking up wide advanced positions to allow his winger to cut inside. He capped his 200th appearance for the club with a goal to make it 3-0, positioning himself astutely in the box and finishing decisively.
MF Romeo Lavia 4 — Lavia’s timing could have been better with some needless fouls conceded, and a bad touch also provided Morgan Gibbs-White with a chance to trouble the goalkeeper. One key intervention saw him stop the ball getting to Taiwo Awoniyi, who was in a dangerous area, but he couldn’t make further amends after he was replaced by Moisés Caicedo at half-time.
MF Malo Gusto 4 — A careless pass early on presented the opposition with a chance that they didn’t take advantage of, but the 22-year-old settled into the game more after that. Booked for a foul on Milenkovic, and then sent off in the 87th minute. Needless.
MF Andrey Santos 5 — Struggled to make an impact on the game from attacking midfield where he was quiet, while he failed to trouble the goalkeeper when being played in by João Pedro before the break, when he was replaced by Guiu.
MF Alejandro Garnacho 4 — A quiet opening 45 minutes for Garnacho in which his only highlight was an attempted overhead-kick pass. The winger was then brought off at the break for Jamie GIttens.
MF Pedro Neto 8 — The Portugal international was the standout for Chelsea on the day, and after his perfect cross found Acheampong for the opener, he then scored directly from a free kick to put Chelsea two ahead early in the second half.
ST João Pedro 7 — Leading the Chelsea line, the Brazil international took care of the ball when his side were able to get it to him, with several clever touches to work his way out of pressure. He also set up Santos with one of Chelsea’s best chances of the first half. The forward continued to work hard in the second half, but couldn’t get on the scoresheet after striking into the side netting.
Substitutes
Moises Caicedo (Lavia, 45′) 6 — The introduction of Caicedo helped Chelsea press more aggressively from the middle of the pitch, while he also helped fix their problem of transitioning the ball forwards more efficiently, taking intelligent touches to open up the play before moving the ball out wide. He then helped organise the side while jogging around with a note from the bench, which James eventually disposed of. Jamie Gittens (Garnacho, 45′) 6 — The 21-year-old kept things simple in possession and worked hard when tracking back to help out his defenders late into the game.
Marc Guiu (Santos, 45′) 7 — Guiu was positive when brought on and was difficult to pick up by Nottingham Forest, which saw him win the free kick in a dangerous area that Chelsea scored from. Intelligent runs from Guiu created space for his teammates, and confusion for defenders.
Estêvão (Neto, 78′) N/R — Provided a late spark for Chelsea, who made it 3-0 after the Brazil international’s shot intended for the near post led to a corner.
Tosin Adarabioyo (Acheampong, 81′) N/R — A defensive change saw the versatile Adarabioyo introduced, but he soon saw his side go 3-0 up and into cruise mode.
