Chelsea are draining the cup to the dregs.
On Monday early evening, the Blues added another humiliation to their season: Nottingham Forest (16th) won 3-1 at Stamford Bridge.
Interim coach Callum McFarlane inherited a decimated, unbalanced and demotivated squad. The Blues are now ninth in the Premier League table: they will not take part in next season’s Champions League.
The Londoners’ record in the PL since March 21 has been abysmal: six straight defeats and just one goal scored!
Against Nottingham, Chelsea conceded the opener in the 2nd minute before quickly collapsing. On the second goal, France international Malo Gusto was at fault after pulling a shirt and giving away a penalty. After just 15 minutes, Forest were already 2-0 up!
Also worth noting was the long stoppage before half-time: Jesse Derry (18), making his Premier League debut, was carried off on a stretcher and given oxygen after a collision with Zach Abbott (concussion protocol).
When play resumed, Cole Palmer missed the penalty that could have cut the deficit.
After the hour mark, Robert Sánchez also went off after a collision with Morgan Gibbs-White. In total, four players were substituted following head collisions: Sánchez, Gibbs-White, Derry and Abbott.
The only bright spot was João Pedro’s acrobatic overhead kick in stoppage time to make it 1-3. The Brazilian was probably Chelsea’s best player this season.
The London club can still “save” its season by winning the FA Cup on May 16, but the task looks insurmountable: Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are overwhelming favourites at Wembley.
Chelsea’s Club World Cup triumph is now nothing but a distant memory.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.
