Chelsea

Minute-by-minute report: Will Nottingham Forest start the year in positive fashion against Chelsea? Join Rob Smyth to find out.

[Chelsea](https://www.theguardian.com/football/chelsea) both move up a place, to 18th and 8th respectively. Boly won the second ball and headed it towards Aurier, lurking with intent on the left side of the six-yard box. 67 min Forest have been outstanding since the break – and they’ve shown that they have more than one way to skin a defence. 75 min “Donut Mystery,” is the subject of Joe Pearson’s email (and the name of my solo jazztronica project). “I think the word in question (58 min) is ‘gogosar’. 68 min Lodi’s awkward cross is controlled superbly by Awoniyi at the near post, but he then mishits a left-footed shot. They certainly don’t look right at the moment, and it’s slightly strange to think that they are the current world club champions because they are palpably in transition. 87 min Gibbs-White, such a classy, elusive player, slips Gallagher neatly in midfield to lead another Forest break. Chelsea started well and scored through Raheem Sterling, but they struggled to live with Forest’s greater intensity in the second half and Serge Aurier’s equaliser was well deserved. We’ve started the year well and now we have to continue to fight together to stay in the Premier League. But the summer was the summer and you have to look at where we are now. The manager told us at half-time to believe in ourselves a bit more.

Chelsea have agreed a £35m deal to sign Monaco defender Benoit Badiashile; the 21-year-old will undergo a medical with the Blues on Monday; Badiashile has ...

I thought it may stop a little, it looks like Todd Boehly is scouting the air for players and I expect them to be busy." It seems to take me back to when Roman Abramovich first came in and I thought with him leaving the club, it might be the end of that. I wouldn't say he's as 'Premier League ready' as some of the players we've seen come from France to Premier League sides in the past.

Chelsea had to settle for a point in a game of two very different halves on our first Premier League fixture against Nottingham Forest for nearly 24 years.

It was a composed strike to end his wait for a Premier League goal, having not found the net in that competition since the end of August. A busy start to the year means Chelsea are back in action in a mouthwatering double header in four days' time. Pulisic did well to play a quick one-two and beat his man with skill out on the left to make space to deliver a cross towards Havertz at the near post. As Morgan Gibbs-White lifted the ball over our defence on the halfway line, it allowed Brennan Johnson’s pace to take him clear between Thiago Silva and Cucurella. The Blues seemed eager to make up for lost time as we started on the front foot, with Mount smartly bringing down a ball over the top from Kalidou Koulibaly, but he couldn’t find the target with his powerful shot. However, things were very different after the break, as Nottingham Forest came out for the second half looking like a completely different team and determined to find an equaliser.

Nottingham Forest claim a valuable point in their relegation fight with a deserved draw against Chelsea, who lose ground on the Premier League top four.

- Home1 - Away2 - Home5 - Away7 - Shots - Home28% - Attendance: It is something to build on - we're not satisfied with drawing games at home but it is a start." - Referee: - 67Hall - 56Hutchinson Send your comments here](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59820925) [Forest to investigate alleged homophobic chanting](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64141226)

Chelsea dropped more points in their quest to climb back up the Premier League standings as Serge Aurier earned Nottingham Forest a 1-1 draw with Graham ...

"We're in control of our destiny and we have to keep building." They nearly broke the deadlock in just the second minute as Mason Mount fired over from a good position. The second half we didn't control it well enough."

Forest had already beaten Liverpool and Tottenham at home this season and turned in another impressive performance.

Forest started the second half very well and were presented with a fine chance just four minutes in. Forest will have fancied their chances of going on to find what would have been a deserved winner, but they could not create any more clear-cut opportunities and had to settle for a point which leaves them in the relegation zone on goal difference. They were within inches of levelling five minutes later and it would have been a cracker as Ryan Yates’ cross was met perfectly by Gibbs-White but his first-time effort crashed off the underside of the bar and just to safety.

Serge Aurier grabbed a deserved equaliser for Nottingham Forest to hold Chelsea to a damaging draw in the Premier League on New Year's Day.

Fellow substitute Hakim Ziyech sent in a perfect back-post cross, but the former Arsenal captain could not muscle his way in to convert it. There was even a cheeky nutmegs on the Chelsea defender, which required Kepa to be alert to clean up. The 20-year-old has scored 15 goals in 24 games in Norway's top flight this season and could prove useful after Armando Broja suffered a season-ending knee injury. He is a vastly experienced player, at 31, yet is often guilty of brain fades, with lapses of concentration and rash decision-making far too regular for a top-quality player. A simple ball over the top saw him get in early on, only for a weak left-footed finish to be comfortably pushed away by Kepa. Their troubles in front of goal were initially clear to see against the Blues. However, it is likely that Chelsea fans are more excited about the pending arrival of Benoit Badiashile. Johnson threatened time and again in behind the Chelsea backline, with Steve Cooper’s tactics obvious and spot on. One example of his innate skill came when he produced a perfectly-timed tackle to stop Gibbs-White in his tracks after Forest threatened to counter-attack. After a mistake by Cesar Azpilicueta, Johnson was in again in the second half, but chose to shoot from an angle rather than look for Taiwo Awoniyi. But Silva’s age – that’s 38 in case you didn’t know – has no relevance to his performances at the moment. Brennan Johnson spurned two good chances to equalise and Morgan Gibbs-White struck the underside of the crossbar before Forest made it 1-1.

Man Utd were reportedly in the running to sign David Datro Fofana but they opted against moving for him before the striker joined rivals Chelsea.

They will clearly hope that these additions in January will boost their top four hopes. While the Mailbox is split on Ronaldo…](https://www.football365.com/news/mailbox-nunez-liverpool-manchester-united-shit-split-ronaldo-transfer) Chelsea are currently playing catch-up in the Premier League as they are eight points adrift of fourth-placed Man Utd with a game in the hand. Chelsea are expected to be busy this month as they are looking to beat the likes of Real Madrid and Liverpool to sign Enzo Fernandez from Benfica after he helped Argentina win the World Cup. The signing of Fofana is part of a larger project from Chelsea as they are looking to sign younger players who are not yet the finished article. [they eventually came to the conclusion that he is ‘not good enough’.](https://www.footballinsider247.com/sources-man-united-pull-plug-on-signing-david-datro-fofana-after-18-scout-reports-rubbish-him/)

Chelsea's spluttering Premier League campaign took a turn for the worse as Serge Aurier's equaliser gave lowly Nottingham Forest a 1-1 draw on Sunday.

It was Sterling's first league goal since August and only the sixth in all competitions for the England forward since his close-season move from Manchester City. Chelsea are languishing in eighth place after failing to win for the sixth time in their last seven league games. But Ivory Coast right-back Aurier levelled after the break and Chelsea were fortunate to escape without an embarrassing defeat after Forest dominated for long spells in the second half.

They forced Kepa Arrizabalaga into two saves as Gibbs-White played Brennan Johnson through on goal but his first shot was well saved by the visiting goalkeeper, ...

Forest will have fancied their chances of going on to find what would have been a deserved winner, but they could not create any more clear-cut opportunities and had to settle for a point which leaves them in the relegation zone on goal difference. They were within inches of levelling five minutes later and it would have been a cracker as Ryan Yates’ cross was met perfectly by Gibbs-White but his first-time effort crashed off the underside of the bar and just to safety. After falling behind to Raheem Sterling’s opener against the run of play, they put in a fine second-half display which was rewarded with Serge Aurier’s equaliser just after the hour.

Forest said in a statement shortly after full-time: “The club are aware of reports concerning chants aimed at Chelsea supporters from a minority of fans this ...

The matter will be investigated.” Forest said in a statement shortly after full-time: “The club are aware of reports concerning chants aimed at Chelsea supporters from a minority of fans this evening and do not condone any type of discriminatory or offensive behaviour. Chelsea’s official LGBTQ+ supporters group took to Twitter towards the end of the first half to “totally condemn” the chant it said could be heard at the City Ground, during a match which was shown live on Sky Sports.