7 october 2024 : Nottingham Forest earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, despite being reduced to 10 men in the 78th minute. Their well-organised defence helped keep Chelsea at bay. Chelsea, with 66% possession, held on to fourth place in the table with 14 points from seven matches, while Forest remained 10th.
Forest opened the scoring early in the second half after a slow first period. A free-kick from James Ward-Prowse, five minutes into the second half, found Nikola Milenkovic, who headed it across for Chris Wood to tap in. The goal injected life into the game, and Chelsea eventually equalised, capitalising on a rare defensive mistake by Forest. Noni Madueke found the bottom corner after receiving a pass from Cole Palmer.
Tensions rose late in the game, overshadowing the contest with a mass brawl in the 88th minute. It began when Forest’s Neco Williams shoved Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella into the technical area. Levi Colwill, furious with Williams, jumped in to confront him, sparking a chaotic scene that involved both teams’ staff and substitutes.
Among those caught up in the altercation was Nicolas Jackson, who had been substituted in the 81st minute. A viral clip from the brawl showed Jackson appearing to slap Forest’s Morato before being pulled away by his teammates. While Jackson avoided a booking, Cucurella was surprisingly shown a yellow card by referee Chris Kavanagh, along with bookings for Williams and Colwill. Wesley Fofana of Chelsea was also cautioned for fouling Forest’s Jota Silva.
As a result, both Cucurella and Fofana will miss Chelsea’s next match against Liverpool after the international break due to the twin bookings.
