Chelsea moved up to fourth place with a 3-goal win! The Forest coach was fired on the spot, leading the team to no win in eight games!

On Saturday, at the depressing City Stadium, Chelsea's second-half goal helped the team win 3-0, temporarily rising to fourth place, and extending Nottingham Forest's winless streak to eight games. Forest head coach Ange Postkoglu's term also ended after 39 days.

Nottingham Forest confirmed immediately after the defeat that Postkoglu had been relieved of his duties after just 39 days in charge after replacing Nuno Espirito Santo, who had gone eight games without a win.

The home team started well but failed to convert their early advantage into goals. In the 49th minute, Nottingham Forest were punished when Pedro Neto sent a pass to 19-year-old Josh Acampon, who headed the ball into the goal and scored his first goal in the Premier League.

Neto soon added to Forest's frustration when his low shot passed through the hands of Mats Sayers. Reece James then scored in the 84th minute and Marlo Gusteau was needlessly sent off shortly afterwards.

This defeat left Nottingham Forest in 17th place with only 5 points, and now they are looking for a new head coach.

Proceedings

Chelsea's early problems were self-inflicted as they twice escaped careless mistakes before Morgan Gibbs-White fired wide after a poor touch from Romeo Lavia.

Moments later, the unguarded Gibbs-White volleyed over, while at the other end, Andre Santos twice wasted opportunities created by Joao Pedro, one shot wide and one that missed the mark.

After halftime, Chelsea made three substitutions and performed well after re-entering the field. Neto sent a pass to Acampan, who headed the ball past Sales.

Three minutes later, James took a short corner kick. Portuguese winger Neto's 20-yard shot slipped from the hands of Sells. Sells's save was also very bad.

Joao Pedro tried to score Chelsea's third goal but his shot missed the bottom left corner, while for Nottingham Forest, Neco Williams' effort was high and a brilliant overhead kick from Igor Jesus somehow hit the crossbar and the left post.

Many Nottingham Forest fans had already begun to leave when James took the opportunity to score after Estevao's half-time corner kick.

Later, an impressive win was marred by a silly late red card from Gusteau, who was sent off for a second yellow card.

Postkoglu's time is up

In Friday's pre-match press conference, Postkoglu passionately defended his experience, citing his success in leading Tottenham Hotspur to the Europa League last season.

Another confident message from Postkoglu that may have been aimed at motivating his Nottingham Forest players, and it seemed to have had some effect early in the game.

Only one minute into the game, Gusteau made a pass error and Taiwo Awoniyi missed the ball. Then Elliott Anderson failed to shoot after Trevor Chalobah made a mistake.

Gibbs-White subsequently missed two opportunities in succession. After Nottingham Forest failed to take advantage of a strong start, many people may have foreboding the collapse of the second half.

The home fans' dissatisfaction with Postkoglu was evident when Douglas Luiz was substituted in the 53rd minute, although Nottingham Forest did go on to create a few chances before James' crucial late goal.

Williams struggled to control the cross from the left at the first opportunity, and Jesus' efforts somehow failed to score. This series of attacks summed up Nottingham Forest's recent struggles in scoring.

Regardless of those missed opportunities, Postkoglu became the first Nottingham Forest manager to fail to win any of his first eight games, and his coaching career came to an abrupt end soon after.

Nottingham Forest will now be looking for a new manager ahead of Thursday's Europa League clash with Porto, before a trip to Bournemouth in the league.

Maresca's tactical changes paid off

With Cole Palmer expected to be out for another six weeks, Enzo Fernandez not included in the matchday squad and Moises Caicedo only just recovered enough to sit on the bench, Enzo Maresca - who was sent off in the previous victory over Liverpool and was suspended from the sidelines for this game - had to rely on his substitutes.

The absence of these key players was very obvious as Chelsea lacked fluidity in the first half and on three occasions they caused trouble themselves, failing to execute Maresca's possession tactics at the back.

As half-time approached, the Blues finally settled down, with Santos twice coming in from behind midfield to link up with Joao Pedro, but both were unable to find the finishing touch they needed.

But Maresca, who was dissatisfied, still made three substitutions at the end of the half. The appearance of Caicedo, Mark Giu and Jamie Gittens quickly had the effect he wanted.

Gio won the free-kick for Neto's goal and was generally lively, while Caicedo brought much-needed calm to their midfield, with Chelsea never giving Nottingham Forest a chance since Acampan's header from close range.

Match data

Postkoglu is the first manager since Sean Dyche took charge of Burnley in 2014 to score only one goal in his first five Premier League games..

During Postkoglu's tenure, Nottingham Forest has conceded 11 set-piece goals in all competitions, more than twice as many as other Premier League clubs during the same period.

In this game, there was only 3 minutes and 2 seconds between Chelsea's first two goals, which was the shortest interval between goals in their Premier League away games since May 2024, when Nicholas Jackson also scored 1 minute and 59 seconds after Raheem Sterling's goal.

Reece James ushered in his 200th appearance in all competitions for Chelsea. This is the first time he has scored and assisted in the same game since the Champions League match against Milan in October 2022.