Nottingham Forest have taken a huge stride towards Premier League safety after storming into a 2-0 lead away to Chelsea.The Tricky Trees made a host of changes to the starting XI ahead of their Europa League semi-final second leg against Aston Villa on Thursday, with the likes of Morgan Gibbs-White, Elliot Anderson and Nikola Milenkovic all left on the bench.But that did not stop the Midlands side from taking control early on, with Taiwo Awoniyi opening the scoring just two minutes into the contest. A lovely floated ball in from Dilane Bakwa was met by the powerful striker, who guided his header past the stretching Robert Sanchez.It was a wake-up call for the hosts, and Enzo Fernandez nearly equalised after a curling first-time effort from the Argentine struck the post.Cole Palmer was also lively in the opening stages, but appeared frustrated at the lack of support around him.Things got worse for the England international, who saw his side go two down with less than 20 minutes on the clock.It was Awoniyi involved in the action again, who saw his shirt pulled back by Malo Gusto in the box, preventing him from contesting a header. After a VAR review, Anthony Taylor awarded a penalty, and Igor Jesus stepped up and sent Sanchez the wrong way to double Forests lead.Since conceding the second goal, Chelsea have improved, but are still failing to impose themselves in the final third.They have a lot of work to do if they are to turn this one around and avoid losing six games in a row without losing for the first time in their history.You can keep up to date with live commentary from the match, as well as a full-game breakdown, right here on 101GreatGoals. Topics Chelsea F.C. Nottingham Forest F.C. Add us as a preferred source on Google If you enjoy reading this article, you can help support our independent football journalism by adding 101 Great Goals as a preferred source You Should Also Read LIVE Chelsea v Nottingham Forest: Commentary, updates, goals and stats Jon Fisher 1st May, 2026 Chelsea vs Nottingham Forest: Line-ups confirmed for Premier League clash Mitch Fretton 4th May, 2026 Chelsea v Nottingham Forest: Predicted line-ups and where to watch as Blues aim to avoid unwanted history Nicholas McGee 4th May, 2026 Nottingham Forest Europa League fixtures, results, squad and schedule 2025/26 101 GreatGoals 2nd May, 2026 Nottingham Forest 1-0 Aston Villa: Report, result and goals as Tricky Trees earn first-leg advantage Mitch Fretton 30th April, 2026 Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa: Line-ups confirmed for Europa League semi-final Mitch Fretton 30th April, 2026
