Nottingham Forest record their first Premier League away victory since January after beating a lacklustre Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The Tricky Trees were under severe pressure from the hosts for the majority of the contest, although a spirited defensive performance limited the Blues to little in the form of glaring chances.
Steve Cooper’s men always looked dangerous on the break, and the East Midlands side took their big chance of the game when Anthony Elanga bagged his maiden goal as a Forest player.
Despite a flurry of late attacks and a glaring miss from Nicolas Jackson, Mauricio Pochettino was unable to record back-to-back league wins for the first time as Blues boss.
Chelsea started the game brightly, when Ben Chilwell dangerous low cross would have presented Raheem Sterling with an opportunity to score if Ola Aina had not interfered with a last-ditch challenge.
Conor Gallagher had the hosts’ first significant shot of the contest after some neat interplay involving Sterling on the right-hand side, however the former Crystal Palace midfielder blasted his attempt narrowly over Matt Turner’s net.
Forest grew into the first period and could have taken the lead when when Chelsea failed to clear their lines from a set-piece situation, although Taiwo Awoniyi was unable to keep his rushed effort on target from 10 yards out.
Despite having the lion’s share of the possession, Chelsea failed to seriously threaten the Forest goal, managing just the single shot on target during the opening 45 minutes.
Cooper’s men were forced into a change at the half-time interval, with Elanga entering the Stamford Bridge contest due to Danilo pulling up with a hamstring injury.
It only took three minutes after coming off the bench for the exciting Swede to break the deadlock in West London, and Pochettino will not be happy with the manner in which his side conceded the goal.
Moises Caicedo was dispossessed in the middle of the park and the ball fell to Awoniyi, with the Nigerian slipping an inviting ball through to Elanga, who produced a composed finish to beat Robert Sanchez.
Pushing for an equaliser, Chelsea introduced new signing Cole Palmer off the bench alongside former PSV Eindhoven man Noni Madueke, with Gallagher and Chilwell making way.
The Blues had to wait until the final 10 minutes for their first clear-cut chance of the game – Sterling worked his way to the byline before pulling the ball back to Jackson, with the striker’s lunging attempt looping over the crossbar from very close range.
Chelsea head into the international break having won just one of their opening four Premier League matches, collecting four points from a quartet of fixtures, with a trip to Bournemouth next up on September 17.
Forest have climbed into the top half of the league standings with a standout performance at Stamford Bridge – the Tricky Trees return to action with a clash against newly-promoted Burnley on September 18.
