Chelsea is waving goodbye to their hopes of playing in Champions League next season, which are near-zero after a 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Monday afternoon in Stamford Bridge, against a team that is escaping from the relegation zone. It was Chelsea's sixth consecutive defeat in Premier League, leaving them ninth with 48 points: they have now the same amount of losses than victories this season, 13, with 9 draws.
Joao Pedro scored in the 93rd minute, the first goal scored by the London team in league since March 4. Two months without winning and scoring in Premier League: 1-0 to Newcastle, 3-0 to Everton, 3-0 to Manchester City, 1-0 to Manchester United, 3-0 to Chelsea. In that time, Chelsea also suffered a 8-2 aggregate elimination from Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain.
Chelsea's only saving grace is the FA Cup: they thrashed Port Vale 7-0 in the FA Cup quarter-finals and defeated Leeds in the semi-finals, setting up a final against Manchester City on May 16.
Upcoming Chelsea matches:
Chelsea needs to win some of the upcoming matches if they want to qualify for Conference League or Europa League. Currently, the sixth place to enter Europa League is filled by Bournemouth, 52 points, while Brentford would qualify for Conference League with 51 points.
- Liverpool vs. Chelsea: May 9, 12:30 BST
- FA Cup final Chelsea vs. Manchester City: May 16, 15:00 BST
- Chelsea vs. Tottenham: May 19, 20:15 BST
- Sunderland vs. Chelsea: May 24, 16:00 BST
This victory also allows Nottingham Forest to leave the relegation zone behind, standing six points clear of West Ham, and now, with Wolves and Burnley already relegated, the final place for relegation will be a race between West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur.
