Pedro Neto starred in Chelsea’s 3-0 victory at Nottingham Forest that ultimately cost Ange Postecoglou his job after just eight games in charge.
Chelsea got the Premier League back underway after the October international break on Saturday as they secured a 3-0 victory against Nottingham Forest at The City Ground that cost Ange Postecoglou his job after just eight games in charge.
An array of errors summed up the first half for the Blues as they consistently gave the ball away despite their dominance of possession, and they were lucky to go in at half-time with the scores level after the home side failed to take advantage of their chances.
Chelsea wasted no time in making changes at the break as manager Enzo Maresca, who was sit in the stands as he was serving a suspension, made a triple substitution at the break. That decision provided an instant impact as Josh Acheampong headed Pedro Neto’s cross past Mat Selz minutes into the second half, before substitute Marc Guiu won a free kick that Neto converted to make it 2-0.
Neco Williams should have got Forest back into it with a volley that he smashed over, before substitute Igor Jesus connected with a cross but was denied by the underside of the bar. Chelsea punished Ange Postecoglou’s side for their wastefulness as they put the game out of reach when Reece James scored on his 200th appearance for the club.
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Pedro Neto was Chelsea’s brightest player in the first half, before he registered a goal and an assist after the break. The Blues were also impressive from set-pieces, which proved to be significant on the day.
There were too many careless mistakes during build-up made in the first half that a more in-form team would have punished. A red card for Malo Gusto, with Chelsea 3-0 up in the final minutes of the match, was also unnecessary.
Enzo Maresca, 6 — Assistant coach Willy Caballero was in the dugout as Maresca was forced to watch from a distance. Both collaborated well to get their side over the line, but their initial gameplan wasn’t good enough in the first half.
