EPL: Nottingham Forest stun Chelsea with Elanga’s winner

Nottingham Forest pulled off a shock 1-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, thanks to a second-half goal from Anthony Elanga. The Swedish winger, who joined Forest from Manchester United this summer, scored his first goal for the club in his fourth appearance, capitalising on a defensive error from Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo.

Chelsea, who had spent over £1 billion on transfers since last year’s takeover by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, failed to break down a resilient Forest defence, despite dominating possession and territory. The hosts had only two shots on target in the entire game, while Forest had four.

The visitors had the better chances in the first half, with Taiwo Awoniyi twice going close with headers from Morgan Gibbs-White’s free-kicks. The Nigerian striker, who has scored five goals in his last six games, caused problems for Chelsea’s backline with his physical presence and movement.

Chelsea’s best opportunity in the opening 45 minutes came from Ben Chilwell, who cut inside from the left and fired a low shot that was saved by Brice Samba. The Blues also had a penalty appeal turned down when Nicolas Jackson went down under a challenge from Joe Worrall, but referee Tim Robinson waved play on.

The game changed in the 48th minute when Caicedo, who was making his first start for Chelsea since his £40 million move from Brighton, lost the ball to Awoniyi in his own half. The Forest forward played a quick pass to Elanga, who ran into the box and slotted the ball past Robert Sanchez with a cool finish.

Chelsea tried to respond, but found Forest’s defence too hard to breach. Mauricio Pochettino, who replaced Graham Potter as Chelsea manager in July, brought on new signings Cole Palmer and Mykhailo Mudryk in an attempt to inject some creativity and pace into his attack, but it made little difference.

Forest almost doubled their lead in the 73rd minute when Gibbs-White curled a free-kick towards the top corner, but Sanchez tipped it over the bar. Chelsea’s best chance to equalise came in the 86th minute, when Jackson met Chilwell’s cross at the near post, but he could not direct his header on target.