Nottingham Forest 1-1 Chelsea player ratings: Anonymous Azpilicueta, tepid Pulisic and superb Boly

Nottingham Forest 1-1 Chelsea (Aurier 63′ | Sterling 16′)

Chelsea’s poor run of results under Graham Potter continued as Nottingham Forest recovered to earn a spirited 1-1 draw.

Raheem Sterling’s first Premier League goal since August gave Chelsea an early lead in slightly fortuitous circumstances, before Serge Aurier’s smart second-half control-and-finish brought Forest level.

Chelsea dominated the first half, controlling nearly 80 per cent of possession, but failed to capitalise.

Forest then came back in style and were the better side in the second-half. Brennan Johnson spurned multiple good chances and Morgan Gibbs-White hammered a sweet half-volley off the crossbar, before Aurier collected Boly’s header from a corner to hammer past Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Chelsea now sit in eighth, while Forest are still in the relegation zone.

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Nottingham Forest

• Dean Henderson – Did everything asked of him but had very little to do against a tepid Chelsea attack. 7
• Serge Aurier – Took his goal superbly and kept Pulisic and Cucurella quiet all afternoon. 7
• Joe Worrall – Solid in the first-half and had little to do in the second. A strong performance from Forest’s captain. 7
• Willy Boly – Arguably at fault for Sterling’s goal but his aerial strength set up Aurier’s goal. Composed and confident throughout to keep Chelsea’s attack at bay and moved the ball forward well. 8
• Renan Lodi – Shuttled up and down the left-hand side all game, but appeared slightly lucky to stay on the pitch after a wild challenge late on and put in some very poor set-piece deliveries. 6
• Ryan Yates – Very poor in the first half and shanked a good chance towards the corner flag before being subbed off. Forest’s weakest link having been named their best player of 2022. 5
• Remo Freuler – A solid showing from the Swiss midfielder, blocking Chelsea’s passing lanes forward throughout the game, although he struggled get a foot on the ball in the first-half. 6
• Orel Mangala – Absent in the first half like most of Forest’s players but redeemed himself in the second with some smart play to stop Chelsea’s attacks at source. 6
• Morgan Gibbs-White – Put Johnson through on goal early with a cute dinked pass and could have scored one of the goals of the season with a smooth half-volley that came back off the bar. 7
• Brennan Johnson – A threatening yet frustrating performance from the Welsh youngster. Created the best of Forest’s chances but his decision making was questionable when it mattered most. Should have passed to an open Awoniyi at 1-0. 7
• Taiwo Awoniyi – Ran and ran and ran, but no reward for the Nigerian striker. Led from the front, fighting for every ball and harassing Chelsea’s lacklustre defence with his direct runs and strength. 8

Substitutes:

• Jack Colback – 6
• Sam Surridge – N/A
• Neco Williams – N/A

STERLING!

Raheem Sterling makes no mistake from close range to give Chelsea the lead! pic.twitter.com/rdugKzmBvO

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 1, 2023

Chelsea

• Kepa Arrizabalaga – Made a series of routine saves but could have done better for Forest’s goal. Beaten all ends up by Gibbs-White’s half-volley which came back off the crossbar. 6
• Cesar Azpilicueta – Bullied by Awoniyi in the channels and offered nothing of Reece James’ attacking threat. Chelsea will be looking to find a new right-back in January. 3
• Kalidou Koulibaly – Composed on the ball but had some poor moments off it. Caught out by Awoniyi and Johnson and bailed out by his centre-back partner. 5
• Thiago Silva – Comfortably Chelsea’s best player, brilliantly dealing with Johnson’s pace. The Blues would have been comfortably beaten if it weren’t for the veteran Brazilian. 8
• Marc Cucurella – Saved by Thiago Silva on more than one occasion having been caught out of position by Johnson. 5
• Denis Zakaria – A solid performance from the Swiss loanee, unfairly hauled off just before Aurier’s goal. Dominated his midfield battle with Ryan Yates. 7
• Jorginho – Easy to forget he was on the pitch most of the game. Struggled to get a foothold on the midfield, even when Chelsea were dominating the first half. 5
• Mason Mount – Blasted a shot over the bar after two minutes then had another blocked by Worrall shortly after, but drifted out of the game. An anonymous performance from Chelsea’s talisman. 5
• Raheem Sterling – Slightly lucky to grab his goal after a bright start and joined the rest of Chelsea’s squad in disappearing in the second half. 5
• Kai Havertz – Havertz played? Completely neutered by Worrall and Boly and looked totally lost trying to lead the line on his own. 3
• Christian Pulisic – Tepidly tapped his only chance of the game at Henderson just before half-time. His cross led to Sterling’s goal, but he was outjumped by Boly for Forest’s goal. 4

Substitutes:

• Mateo Kovacic – 6
• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 5
• Conor Gallagher – 6
• Hakim Ziyech – 7

Analysis: Chelsea look technically and physically ordinary

By Daniel Storey, i chief football writer
It’s pretty clear that Chelsea are going to approach the January transfer window with the same swagger that they approach most transfer windows. Benoit Badiashile, a defender from Monaco, is almost a done deal. Enzo Fernandez is being rumoured for nine-figure fees, which would be extraordinary given the sheer number of midfielders that Chelsea possess. You can make the case that Chelsea need a goalscorer and a creative wide player too (although that forces at least three semi-recent signings into the cold).

Watching Chelsea against Nottingham Forest after the World Cup break and against Newcastle before it, something else became obvious. It isn’t so much that Chelsea lack technical players, although you can reasonably argue that they do; it’s that there is a physical lethargy to their play that allows their opponents to dominate them from the moment they try to impose them physically.

Take a few examples from Sunday. Taiwo Awoniyi is a physical presence, no doubt. But the manner in which he was able to fend off, roll, hold, battle and ultimately embarrass Kalidou Koulibaly was alarming. In midfield, Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic were far too easily knocked off the ball and the same happened to Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic a little deeper and Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz higher. As soon as Forest realised that they could force the issue, they won the issue.

The only conclusion is that this squad – without a prolific centre forward, without Antonio Rudiger, without N’Golo Kante at his best – looks ordinary technically, ordinary physically and you can’t just employ a coach with tactical expertise and expect that to solve it.

This is an extract of The Score, Daniel Storey’s weekly verdict on all 20 Premier League teams’ performances. Sign up to receive the free newsletter on Monday mornings here

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