Chelsea faced their second loss of the season in a home match against Nottingham Forest on September 2. Despite having control of the ball, Chelsea struggled to create scoring opportunities against Steve Cooper’s side, who managed to secure a victory with a single counterattack.
Enzo Fernandez made a couple of attempts from long range, while Super Eagles star Taiwo Awoniyi missed two close-range shots.
In the second half, Nottingham Forest took a 1-0 lead following a mistake by Chelsea, allowing Anthony Elanga to score his first goal for his new team. Elanga's clever positioning baffled Chelsea's defense during his 45-minute performance, displaying excellent chemistry with Awoniyi and Morgan Gibbs-White.
As the pressure increased on the home side, Mauricio Pochettino handed Cole Palmer his debut, but Chelsea continued to struggle against Nottingham Forest's solid defense. Nicolas Jackson had a notable chance to equalize but missed from close range. Thiago Silva also came close to scoring as the game approached its conclusion, and Raheem Sterling's late effort went wide. However, Nottingham Forest held on for a remarkable victory.
Nottingham Forest's triumph at Stamford Bridge marked their first victory against Chelsea since January 1995. It was also their second Premier League away win since gaining promotion from the Championship in 2022. The result propelled Nottingham Forest to ninth place in the Premier League standings.
This victory at Chelsea wasn't entirely unexpected, as Nottingham Forest had shown improvement in their other two away performances this season, with narrow defeats against Arsenal and Manchester United.
For Chelsea, this result left them with more losses than wins in the league so far, earning four points out of a possible twelve. It marks Chelsea's worst start to a Premier League season since 1995/96.
