Chelsea 0 Nottingham Forest 1: Nicolas Jackson misses late sitter as ex-Man Utd star Elanga sends Blues into bottom half
Sponsored by
THIAGO SILVA and Raheem Sterling were the only Chelsea players born the last time Nottingham Forest won at Stamford Bridge 28 years ago.
But in football, sometimes the more things change the more they stay the same.
Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly has overseen a £1billion splurge on new players since taking over the club last May.
He has also sacked a manager and appointed a new one in Mauricio Pochettino to try to piece together a team capable of winning major honours.
Yet Chelsea look no different to the rudderless bunch that thrashed around in disarray under Pochettino’s predecessor Graham Potter.
Which suggests the issues at this big-spending club might not be solely focused on the pitch.
Forest and Chelsea were the busiest clubs of the summer transfer window - each bringing in 13 players.
Boehly and his cohorts focused on trawling a dragnet around the world to scoop up a raft of young players that brought the average age of the squad down to just 22.5.
But while sporting directors Paul Winstlanley and Lawrence Stewart went looking far and wide they missed the rising star right under their noses.
And Anthony Elanga made them pay for it in the most painful sense by scoring his first goal for Forest since making a £15million move from Manchester United in July.
Most read in Football
FREE BETS - BEST BETTING OFFERS AND BONUSES NEW CUSTOMERS
Elanga, 21, embarrassed Chelsea by finishing the way their forwards cannot at the moment, planting a clinical shot past Robert Sanchez to claim three huge away points.
A mix-up in midfield between Moises Caicedo and Conor Gallager put Chelsea on the back foot three minutes into the second half.
Forest striker Taiwo Awiniyi picked up a loose ball gift wrapped in blue ribbon and powered towards goal.
He poked the ball through the legs of veteran Silva and the pass spun to Elanga who chose his spot to side-foot home from the edge of the area.
Forest boss Steve Cooper was made to sweat as the match wore on.
It was not from the barrage of pressure his side was put under defending their lead, rather the sudden emergence of late summer sunshine bearing down on him in the away dugout.
He was constantly wiping himself down with a club red towel as his team edged closer to an unexpected away win.
Although it isn’t as surprising as he might think.
Chelsea are lacking cohesion having scoured the globe to throw together a bunch of strangers which Pochettino must somehow mould into a team of sorts.
The Argentine insists it will take time and warned against getting carried away with expectation based simply on the amount of money being spent by the Stamford Bridge board of directors.
But the Premier League is an impatient place these days with even more impatient owners.
Luckily chairman Boehly was not present to witness first hand as Chelsea managed just one shot on target during an underwhelming first half.
Even then it was a limp punt straight at keeper Matt Turner by £106m Enzo Fernandez just seconds before the half-time whistle.
Elsewhere it was drab, dreary and disjointed from the big-spending Blues and equally from the visitors - who came with a mission to soak it up and strike on the counter.
Any threat they did pose on the Forest goal prior to the welcome relief of the break was expertly snuffed out by the stout defending of skipper Joe Worrall.
The skipper was a rock at the back and on top of his game because, while Chelsea lack the finishing of a top side, they do possess the youth and energy to whirl around the pitch in all directions at 200mph.
Forest picked themselves up following the deadline-day departure of forward Brennan Johnson to Tottenham.
Johnson’s eight Premier League goals last season played a key role in keeping Steve Cooper’s side in the top flight and keeping the head coach in a job.
While Elanga grabbed the limelight with his classy finish, captain Worrall was the standout servant for the merry men of Sherwood Forest as the unsung hero at the back.
Even though Chelsea are nowhere near where they should be in front of goal, Forest’s towering centre-half still did not put a foot wrong apart from one fleeting moment at the death.
He was given the slip by Sterling who raced to the byline then cut the ball back only for Nicolas Jackson, another new recruit, to miss a sitter from three yards and sum up Chelsea’s miserable day.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Pochettino brought on Cole Palmer and three other subs in the second half - all part of his new stable of soccer toddlers - and hardly looked like grabbing a point.
In fact, Elanga could have grabbed a second for Forest in the closing stages when he broke free along the left and smashed a shot against the post.
