Nottingham Forest hosted Chelsea in the 38th week of the 2024/2025 Premier League at The City Ground Stadium on Sunday (25/5). Chelsea won 1-0 over the hosts in this important duel.
Chelsea and Forest still have targets in this duel. Both teams are competing for a ticket to the Champions League. This factor makes the match interesting. For Chelsea, Pedro Neto was very active at the start of the match.
Forest had a golden opportunity in the 43rd minute. Ola Aina released a that freed Chris Wood. This opportunity should have been converted into a goal. However, Wood’s execution was far from expectations. The first half ended with a score of 0-0.
Chelsea started the second half in perfect fashion. Starting from a corner kick, there was a complicated situation in the Forest penalty box. Neto then released a that was successfully completed by Levi Cowill into a goal. In the 50th minute, Chelsea were 1-0 up.
Forest did not want to lose points in front of their own ers. They responded by playing Callum Hudgson-Odoi and Ryan Yates. Gibbs-White was also more active in getting involved in attacks and playing a key role.
Forest continued to fight until the final minutes. In the 90+4 minute, Wood had a good chance. However, his execution was not on target. The match ended with a score of 1-0 for Chelsea. This result made The Blues finish in 4th place in the final standings.
Meanwhile, Forest had to be satisfied with being in 7th place in the final standings. Forest got a ticket to compete in the UEFA Conference League for the 2025/2026 season. Meanwhile, Chelsea won a ticket to compete in the Champions League.
Paul Robinson did not hesitate to criticize the Nottingham Forest defense that looked helpless against Levi Colwill. In his opinion, the Chelsea defender’s goal was one of the easiest in the young player’s career.
In more detail, Robinson highlighted the fatal mistake of Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels, who was too reckless out of goal. As a result, Colwill calmly finished the ball in front of an empty goal without any significant interference.
“It’s an empty field goal for Levi Colwill at the far end. Matz Sels runs out to close the corner, but there is no player to mark Colwill,” said Robinson.
“This is one of the easiest goals he will score in his career,” added the former England goalkeeper when giving his comments to the BBC.