Chelsea crash the top four with a clinical away win at Nottingham Forest
18 October 2025
Match Overview
Chelsea earned a valuable away win at Nottingham Forest, beating them 3-0 on Saturday in the eighth round of the Premier League.
The three Chelsea goals were scored by Josh Achimbong, Pedro Neto, and Reece James in the 49th, 52nd and 84th minutes respectively, lifting the Blues to 14 points and up to fourth, while Forest stay on five points in seventeenth.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca was absent from the bench due to a sending-off in the previous round, with Willy Caballero taking charge on the touchline.
The starting XI for Chelsea included: Robert Sanchez, Reece James, Achimbong, Chalobah, Cokoria, Joao Guusto, Lavia, Neto, Andre Santos, Garnacho, and Joao Pedro.
Nottingham Forest lined up with: Matz Sels, Williams, Milenkovic, Morato, Morio, Zinchenko, Anderson, Sanggari, David Luiz, Ioniye, Gibbs-White.
Key Moments and Aftermath
Lashback to a bright early moment for the hosts, as a gilt-edged chance in the opening minute went narrowly wide when Oniye struck wide.
Forest threatened again through Gibbs-White, who produced a couple of dangerous moments near the Chelsea box, the first a cross and the second a shot that tested Sanchez.
Chelsea finally tested Sels via a free-kick from James, but the Forest goalkeeper was equal to it. The first half finished goalless as both sides failed to find a breakthrough.
Early in the second half, Maresca reshuffled the visitors, bringing Kaisido and Gittens on for Santos, Lavia and Garnacho, while Postecoglou answered by replacing Oniie with Igor Jesus.
Moments later, Chelsea went ahead when Achimbong headed in from Neto’s cross to make it 1-0.
Within three minutes, Chelsea doubled their lead as Neto’s left-footed shot deflected off Sels after a James corner, finding the net for 2-0.
Postecoglou responded by introducing Hudson-Odoi for Dougl as Luiz, but the Blues continued to press and added a third through James late on, finishing the scoring at 3-0.
Forest also had their moments, with Williams and Gibbs-White creating threats, but a string of saves from Sanchez helped Chelsea keep a clean sheet, and a late Gusto dismissal for a second yellow capped a difficult day for the home side.
Numbers from the match show Forest’s vulnerability to set-pieces, and Chelsea’s efficiency in front of goal in this clash of styles.
Chelsea’s late surge in this game also marked several milestones and notable stats for the visitors, including Neto’s continued influence and James reaching a significant appearance landmark for Chelsea.
As the dust settled, Chelsea moved into the top four while Forest remained in the relegation mix, a result that will have managers rethinking plans ahead of upcoming fixtures.
Two punchlines to close: 1) If Chelsea keep this up, the bus to Stamford Bridge might start charging fare for the ride to the top four. 2) Nottingham Forest left wondering if their defense was a garden fence—lots of gaps, not much privacy for the goalkeeper.
