NOTTINGHAM, England :Chelsea’s Levi Colwill struck in the second half to send his team back to the Champions League for the first time in three seasons with a breathless 1-0 victory at Nottingham Forest on Sunday on a make-or-break final day of the Premier League.
Enzo Maresca’s men finished fourth in the table on 69 points in the crowded chase for European qualification, while Forest, who had Champions League dreams of their own in their best season in decades, had to settle for seventh on 65 points.
Colwill broke the deadlock of an intense game at the City Ground in the 50th minute when Forest defender Neco Williams struggled to head the ball clear and Pedro Neto was there to poke the ball across goal for Colwill to tap into the empty net, as the Chelsea fans behind Matz Sels’ goal erupted.
“Amazing, we’ve grinded it out all season and today for these fans, we hope they’re happy and get to see some Champions League next season,” Colwill said.
“We did it and we’re proud, as a club, we’re back where we should be.”
Chris Wood missed a chance to equalise at the death when Sels drilled a terrific ball into the box and Wood stretched to get his foot on it but chipped it over the bar from close range, prompting agonised groans from the Forest faithful.
While Chelsea’s goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of Forest, their season will be deemed a success.
They were tipped for another relegation battle by many before a remarkable turnaround under Nuno Espirito Santo saw them parked among the top five for much of the season, and dreaming of a return to Europe’s elite club competition for the first time in more than 40 years.
As it is they will return to European competition next season, for the first time since the 1995-96 campaign, in the Conference League.
The game promised to be intense and it did not disappoint, with both teams roaring out of the gates and the City Ground crowd at their raucous best.
Neto missed the game’s first real scoring chance midway through the first half when he latched onto Cole Palmer’s cross but his left-footed shot from the centre of the box sailed high.
Forest had a huge chance just before the break as Ola Aina sent in a beautiful cross that Wood flicked just over.
Chelsea players remained on the pitch, some of them teary-eyed, to applaud their fans after a promising first season for Maresca. They also play Real Betis in the Conference League final on Wednesday.
Despite the defeat, Forest fans lingered long at the stadium to applaud a season that saw them become the first team in Premier League history to double their points tally from one season to the next.
Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi received a loud ovation when he stepped on the pitch to wave to Forest’s fans two weeks after he had emergency surgery on an abdominal injury after colliding with a post during their 2-2 draw with Leicester City. Awoniyi was not in Sunday’s squad.
