Nottingham Forest 0 Chelsea 1 – Colwill goal seals Champions League spot as Nuno settles for seventh

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Levi Colwill was the unlikely hero for Chelsea as his goal against Nottingham Forest sealed a Champions League spot at the City Ground.

While the title, second place and three relegation spots in the Premier League were confirmed before the final day, the unknowns came down to who would finish in which European spots. And this was the only game featuring two of those teams fighting for those spots.

A goalless first half meant those unknowns went into the final 45 minutes of the season and on 49 minutes, Colwill tapped home for Chelsea.

The result means Enzo Maresca’s side finish fourth while Forest end the season in seventh.

Chelsea now face Real Betis on Wednesday in the Conference League final while Forest have a busy summer ahead as they plan for Europe.

Paul Taylor and Liam Twomey break down the action from the City Ground.

Chelsea find the balance at just the right moment…

Go on, who else had Aston Villa and Newcastle both losing to opponents with nothing to play for while Chelsea impressively took care of business away at Forest?

In the end, it was their steadfast defence which got them over the line, and was always likeliest to be their route to victory given the lack of firepower in this team without Nicolas Jackson.

Heading into the final day, Chelsea had scored a seemingly healthy 12 goals in the seven Premier League matches Jackson had missed in 2024-25. Nine of those goals, however, came in two thoroughly uncompetitive routs of relegated Southampton. Against serious top-flight opposition, the tally stood at an alarming three goals in five games.

Forest away was never likely to be a high-scoring affair for Chelsea, even with Jackson, whose individual output is less important than the little things he can do to elevate his team-mates. Without him, the question became: how on earth is this team going to score?

Maresca has guided Chelsea to the Champions League (Getty Images)

In the end, the breakthrough came from a little bit of guile, a dash of hustle and no small amount of luck, as Marc Cucurella’s hopeful dink back into the Forest box from a short corner kick caught a friendly flick off the head of Neco Williams which held it up just enough for Neto, who reacted quicker than anyone else to send the ball rolling invitingly across the box.

Colwill was there to tap it in and wheel away in front of the travelling Chelsea supporters. This team’s lack of set-piece prowess is underlined by the fact that it was only his second Premier League goal of the season, but Maresca’s team picked the perfect moment to get it right and get the good fortune they needed.

Liam Twomey

Does this feel like disappointment or success for Forest and Nuno?

Forest started the day with a dream of Champions League football, they ended it with what felt like the scant reward of a place in the Conference League qualifying round.

For much of the campaign, Forest had pushed for a top-five finish, so to end the campaign outside of it came with a tinge of disappointment.

But when the dust settles on a remarkable campaign, Forest are still back on the European stage for the first time in three decades.

(BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)

They will follow in the footsteps of Frank Clark’s side, who plotted a course to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1996, where they were beaten by Bayern Munich.

For a side that twice battled Premier League relegation in the last two years, that is a remarkable achievement.

When Forest won promotion in the spring of 2022, owner Evangelos Marinakis made a short speech on the steps of the Council House, in which he promised to deliver European football.

This is not the European competition Forest wanted a few months ago, but it is still remarkable progress under Nuno Espirito Santo.

Paul Taylor

How prepared are Forest for playing in Europe?

It is increasingly hard to escape the thought that Ibrahim Sangare could be a useful asset as Forest head back into Europe.

The 27-year-old has played in all three European competitions with PSV and, in the final weeks of the Premier League campaign, has started to look like the player Forest hoped he would be when they signed him, on September 1, 2023.

He was not alone — Forest’s starting XI, from Matz Sels in goal to Chris Wood up front, all have the quality to thrive on the European stage.

Wood has the chance to prove himself in Europe (BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)

Sels’ 13 clean sheets have given him a share of the Premier League Golden Glove award, along with Arsenal’s David Raya, while Wood is the first player to get 20+ top-flight goals for Forest since Stan Collymore. And in injury time, he had the chance to steal a point and add to that tally but couldn’t convert.

Forest do need to strengthen — they will need to add significant depth to their ranks, to cope with the prospect of playing twice a week on a regular basis.

But they have a good base on which to build, if they can make five or six quality additions.

Paul Taylor

Why has Moises Caicedo been so important for Chelsea?

Caicedo ensured he would finish the season with the most Premier League bookings in the Chelsea squad in the 56th minute at the City Ground, when he tripped Anthony Elanga. The only surprise was that he didn’t wrap up that particular honour in the first half, when a South American tickle to the calf of Morgan Gibbs-White went unpunished by referee Anthony Taylor.

It was always going to be that sort of game between Forest and Chelsea given the Champions League qualification stakes, and in games like this, Caicedo’s proverbial teeth in midfield are even more important to Maresca’s slight, technical team than his considerable technical skills.

As against Manchester United last weekend, Maresca opted to start Caicedo in his preferred No 6 position with club captain Reece James at right-back, and Romeo Lavia on the bench — though the Belgian was brought on for Jadon Sancho shortly after Caicedo’s booking and Colwill’s goal to shore up the visitors’ midfield as they protected their lead.

(Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)

This pragmatic rationale underpinned every decision Maresca made at the City Ground. Tosin was favoured over Trevoh Chalobah again as the most physically qualified centre-back option to counter the hulking Chris Wood, while Cobham graduate Tyrique George was dropped to the substitutes’ bench with the more experienced Neto preferred as the No 9.

Chelsea’s set-up never looked likely to create a cascade of chances but on a day when mistakes were always more likely to settle proceedings than a moment of magic, Maresca primed his team to make fewer than the opposition. It was tight and nervy, but it worked.

Liam Twomey

What next for Chelsea?

Wednesday, May 28: Real Betis, UEFA Conference League final (Wroclaw, Poland), 8pm UK, 3pm ET

(Top photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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