Nottingham Forest 1-1 Chelsea: Player ratings as Blues slump to disappointing draw

William of England
By William of England 8 Min Read
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By Finley Crebolder

Nottingham Forest and Chelsea split the tally on New Year’s Day, with the home side battling to earn a deserved point.

Chelsea dominated possession from the start but the first chance of the game would fall to the home side, with Brennan Johnson being played on goal by Morgan Gibbs-White but having his shot saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga.

He was forced to pay for that mistake just five minutes later when Raheem Sterling gave Chelsea the lead, slotting in a rebound after Christian Pulisic’s cross was inadvertently flicked over the bar by Willy Boly.

The visitors later controlled proceedings with the majority of the game played in Nottingham Forest’s half.

For all their ball possession, however, Graham Potter’s side were unable to create any more great chances, so they went into half-time just a goal clear.

The hosts got off to a good start to the second half with Taiwo Awoniyi carrying the ball into the box and firing a straight shot at Kepa just before the Spanish goalkeeper was forced to intervene again, blocking a shot from Johnson.

Forest continued to push and Gibbs-White nearly leveled them in stunning fashion, hitting the woodwork with a perfect volley from the edge of the box.

Steve Cooper’s side were rewarded for their efforts just after the hour mark, when Serge Aurier controlled a takedown from a corner with his chest and volleyed in from close range.

Chelsea fans would have hoped this would have given birth to their team, but that was not the case with Forest who continued to be the more menacing of the two sides.

The substitutions then turned the tide in the away side’s favour, and two of them came together when Hakim Ziyech sent in a cross for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but the striker headed wide under the pressure by Aurier.

That would prove to be the last big chance of the game with Nottingham Forest holding on comfortably enough to pick up a valuable and deserved point.

Nottingham Forest player ratings

origin 1Nottingham Forest deserved the point | PAUL ELLIS/GettyImages

OP – Dean Henderson – 5/10 – It was a quiet evening, he only faced two shots on goal but maybe he could have reacted faster for what went on the net.

RB – Serge Aurier – 7/10 – After a quiet first half, he got on well in the second half and took his goal excellently.

CB – Joe Worrall – 6/10 – He hasn’t done much harm in defence, helping to keep Chelsea’s attack calm.

CB – Willy Boly – 10/7 – He was unlucky for Chelsea to score and made up for it with an assist and excellent defense afterwards.

LB – Renan Lodi – 5/10 – At times it felt wobbly on the back and couldn’t do much on the other side either.

CM – Orel Mangala – 5/10 – He failed to establish himself much on the game, failing to make a single tackle or create anything for his forwards.

CM – Remo Freuler – 7/10 – He played really well in the heart of midfield, winning the ball back and keeping things straight for his team.

CM – Ryan Yates – 6/10 – He worked hard but lacked a bit of quality and was a bit too rash at times in and out of possession.

RW – Brennan Johnson – 6/10 – He caused some problems for the Chelsea defense with his pace but missed a final product, shooting two great chances directly at Kepa.

ST – Morgan Gibbs-White – 8/10 – Easily the best striker on the pitch, creating two great chances with excellent passing, dribbling past the opposition a number of times and then nearly scoring a wonderful goal.

LW – Taiwo Awoniyi – 7/10 – He was a real thread down the left wing, picking up players, winning the ball and creating some chances. The one area he lacked was shooting.

Substitutes

Jack Colback (78′ for Mangala) – N/A.

Sam Surridge (82′ for Johnson) – N/A.

Neco Williams (88′ for Awoniyi) – N/A

Manager

Steve Cooper – 8/10 – He reacted excellently to being put behind, making tactical changes which saw his side dominate much of the second half.

Chelsea player ratings

origin 1A disappointing day for Potter and co | Clive Mason/GettyImages

PORT: Kepa Arrizabalaga – 7/10 – He made some excellent saves and couldn’t do anything for the goal.

RB: Cesar Azpilicueta – 5/10 – He was fine defensively most of the time but struggled to deal with Awoniyi’s physicality and didn’t do much forward.

BC: Kalidou Koulibaly – 6/10 – He defended well for most of the game and passed the ball well.

CB: Thiago Silva – 7/10 – He continues to be Chelsea’s best defender, rarely putting a foot wrong.

LB: Marc Cucurella – 5/10 – I would have hoped to have a bigger impact in attack.

CM: Jorginho – 5/10 – He has failed to dictate the game how he likes it, not having much impact when on the ball.

MC: Denis Zakaria – 4/10 – He wasn’t good in the middle of the park, failing to create chances or win the ball back much.

RM: Raheem Sterling – 6/10 – He scored a good goal and created a chance, but it was quiet apart from those moments.

AM: Mason Mount – 5/10 – He took the ball more than his midfield mates but didn’t make much use of it.

LM: Christian Pulisic – 6/10 – He sent in a good cross for the opening goal and was his side’s biggest threat for much of the game.

CF: Kai Havertz – 3/10 – He was invisible for most of the match.

Substitutes

Mateo Kovacic (61′ for Zakaria) – 5/10 – He was unable to help his team regain control of the game.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (73′ for Mount) – N/A

Conor Gallagher (73′ for Sterling) – N/A

Hakim Ziyech (73′ for Jorginho) – N/A

Carney Chukwuemeka (87′ for Pulisic) – N/A

Manager

Graham Potter – 4/10 – His team got off to a good start, but why he allowed them to relinquish control of the match after taking the lead we don’t know. Too cautious and it cost Chelsea.

Player of the Match – Morgan Gibbs-White

This article was originally posted on 90min.com as Nottingham Forest 1-1 Chelsea: Player ratings as Blues slump to disappointing draw.

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