Nottingham Forest 0-1 Chelsea: Blues secure Champions League football after two seasons away | OneFootball

At the start of the season, very few would have predicted that this clash on the final game of the season would be a potential decider between both sides for UEFA Champions League football.

After a close-fought affair between the two, Levi Colwill’s goal was the difference after Pedro Neto capitalised on a mistake by Neco Williams.

Despite waves of pressure from the home side, Chelsea stood strong and Forest were unable to break them down, with Chris Wood missing multiple chances in front of goal. The hosts narrowly miss out on a return to the competition they’ve famously won twice before in their history, meaning the Champions League anthem will be played on the speakers at Stamford Bridge next season rather than the City Ground.

As it happened

The hosts came into today’s game in a relatively poor spell of form on home soil: winless in their last three games at the City Ground. Nevertheless, they were looking the brighter side in the early stages and tried to break with speed as they have done all season.

However, both sides were struggling to fashion any early chances, with only one attempt between the two Champions League chasing sides in the first 20 minutes.

Neto was offered the opportunity to open the scoring when Noni Madueke was able to find Cole Palmer in some space on the right-hand side. The former Manchester City man put in an inviting cross, but the Portuguese in the box was only able to fire it over on the volley from cross range.

The first half was a tale of two big missed chances. After an inviting cross from Ola Aina and some neat build-up, Wood mis-hit his attempt which went over the bar. The New Zealand international was likely put off by the presence of the onrushing Robert Sánchez and, if the effort did find the net, questions likely would have been asked of the Spaniard.

With news of Emiliano Martinez’s red card at Old Trafford and Newcastle still drawing at home to Everton, the second half could not have been more finely poised.

From the moment the half began, Chelsea were the team on top and they were able to reap the rewards early. Williams was unable to deal with a hopeful cross into the box and Neto reacted quickly, putting it on a plate for Colwill to tap home. Champions League football looked very much like it was coming back to Stamford Bridge.

Forest knew that they would need to gamble while chasing a goal, so they turned to former Chelsea youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi with the hope he could inspire a comeback from the bench.

Since Chelsea took the lead, Enzo Maresca’s side had been happy for the hosts to take control but, despite the waves of pressure from Nottingham Forest, The Blues were resolute.

As time began to run out, tempers were starting to flare, with referee Anthony Taylor giving out several yellow cards to unhappy players on both sides.

Maresca had opted to switch to a back five, highlighting the direction that the final game of the season would be heading in.

The home fans were encouraged with eight minutes added on by the fourth official but regardless of the outcome it had been a season to remember for Nuno Espírito Santo’s men. A place in the UEFA Conference League was already guaranteed, but Forest’s chance of going one better and achieving a place in the Europa League looked like it was slipping away after Wood brought down a ball into the box but once again fired over.

As the full-time whistle blew, the Chelsea players and coaches could not contain their delight in qualifying for next season’s Champions League as they rushed over to the away fans’ corner in the City Ground. It’s a squad still, of course, full of youth, but their performance today showed a maturity beyond their years to stay resolute and keep the clean sheet intact despite the hosts’ best efforts. This is not the end of their season, as a Conference League final against Real Betis awaits on Wednesday.

This was still a successful season for Nottingham Forest with European football on the horizon, but it will still hurt to miss out Europa League and potentially Champions League football by just one point.

The lineups

NFO: Sels; Aina, Milenković, Murillo, Williams; Domínguez, Sangaré, Anderson, Gibbs-White; Elanga, Wood