LONDON: Nottingham Forest took a huge step towards Premier League survival with a 3-1 win at Chelsea on Monday that dealt a major blow to the Blues’ hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.

Taiwo Awoniyi marked his 100th Forest appearance with the early opener at Stamford Bridge and Igor Jesus’s penalty doubled their advantage soon afterwards.

Cole Palmer compounded Chelsea’s misery when he missed a penalty late in the first half.

Awoniyi struck again after the interval and Joao Pedro’s eye-catching bicycle kick in the closing stages was no consolation for lacklustre Chelsea.

Languishing in ninth place, Che­lsea’s wretched run has left them on the verge of failing to reach next season’s Champions League. Chelsea have lost six consecutive league games for the first time since 1993.

Scoring for the first time in six league matches was the only positive in a shambolic display.

Calum McFarlane’s team are 10 points behind fifth-placed Aston Villa, with only nine points available in the race for the top-five finish that secures Champions League qualification.

However, sixth will also earn a Champions League berth if Villa finish fifth and win the Europa League, leaving Chelsea — currently four points adrift of sixth-placed Bournemouth — still with a slender chance.

Forest’s third successive league victory moved them six points clear of the relegation zone, with four more points needed to guarantee survival.

There are just three games left for each club in Forest’s scrap with fourth-bottom Tottenham Hotspur and third-bottom West Ham United.

Pereira made eight changes from Forest’s previous league game as he prioritised holding onto their 1-0 lead in Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg at Aston Villa.

The gamble paid off and Pereira’s side, unbeaten in their last 10 games in all competitions, can now focus on finishing off Villa to reach their first European final since 1980.

McFarlane last week insisted Chelsea remain an attractive club for prospective managers despite their latest turbulent campaign.

Liam Rosenior was sacked in April, just 106 days after arriving from Strasbourg to replace Enzo Maresca, whose 18-month reign ended in January following hints of a lack of support from Chelsea’s hierarchy.

Potential replacements for Rosenior might disagree with McFarlane’s spin after such a moribund performance.

TOTTENHAM CLIMB OUT OF RELEGATION ZONE

In Sunday’s late match, Tottenham eased their Premier League relegation fears with a vital 2-1 victory against Villa to move above West Ham and out of the bottom three.

West Ham’s defeat by Brentford the day before opened the door for Tottenham and they took full advantage with Conor Gallagher’s low shot and Richarlison’s header punishing a lacklustre Villa inside the opening 25 minutes.

Fifth-placed Villa were poor as their only effort on target was Em­i­liano Buendia’s consolation header seconds before the final whistle.

Tottenham had gone 15 games without a league win and were careering towards their first relegation since 1977 before they finally stopped the rot at Wolve­rhampton Wanderers last week.

Despite a host of injuries they returned to the West Midlands to produce a display that was unrecognisable from most of what they have served up this season.

New manager Roberto de Zerbi has now taken seven points from his first four games in charge and while Tottenham are far from safe, they have momentum and belief heading into their final three games of the season.

The win moved them into 17th place with 37 points from 35 games with West Ham on 36 from 35. They also have a far superior goal difference to their London rivals. Nottingham Forest are 16th with 39 points.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2026