Woeful Chelsea suffered a humiliating 3-1 defeat in the hands of Nottingham Forest in the Premier League match on Monday 4 May, 2026 at Stamford Bridge in London.
The outcome means Nottingham Forest have climbed six (6) points away from the Premier League relegation zone, as well as, a stern message to Unai Emery’s Aston Villa ahead of the Uefa Europa League 2025/26 semi final second leg on Thursday.
As Chelsea suffered its sixth Premier League defeat back-to-back, its qualification for Europe next season is now in serious doubt.
Probably, with the European clash against the Villans on his mind, Nottingham Forest head coach, Viktor Pereira made eight (8) changes to his starting eleven (XI), however, the move yielded a massive positive result as the Tricky Trees carted maximum points on the road.
The visitors took the lead through Nigerian striker, Taiwo Awoniyi, in the 2nd minute of play after converting Dilane Bakwa’s assist, and Igor Jesus made it two (2) in the 15th minute from the penalty spot.
In the 10th minute of first half additiinal time, Cole Palmer lost a golden opportunity for Chelsea to pull one back from the penalty spot; the England attacking midfielder’s kick was saved by goalkeeper, Matz Sels.
Seven (7) minutes after the break, Awoniyi netted his brace from Morgan Gibbs-White’s assist to make it 0-3 in favour of Nottingham Forest, but, Joao Pedro’s goal to make it 1-3 in the 73rd minute was struck out by Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
The Blues kept on fighting and eventually netted their consolation through Joao Pedro in the 3rd minute of additional time with an assist from Marc Cucurella.
In his post-Chelsea comments to SkySports, Nottingham Forest manager, Pereira said: “We are a team that wants to keep our future in our hands and to do that we need to win games and not to be worried with the results of the other teams.
“One thing we are doing well is our pressure. We are organised. We have players that can score goals in different ways.
“But I’m very happy because we showed strong spirit again.”
On the Uefa Europa League against Aston Villa on Thursday, Pereira said: “I’m sure that we will go to play a very difficult game. We go with energy, spirit and fight to the last minute.”
The Tricky Trees boss expressed his “sadness” after Gibbs-White sustained a head injury after a collision with Robert Sanchez, Chelsea goalkeeper, in the second half of the showdown.
Pereira said: “The only thing I’m sad about is the injury of [Morgan] Gibbs-White.”
For his stunning performance for Nottingham Forest, Super Eagles forward, Taiwo Awoniyi, clinched the Player Of The Match (POTM) award.
Photo: Taiwo Awoniyi of Nottingham Forest with his Premier League Player Of The Match (POTM) award | Nottingham Forest/X
