Chelsea moved within touching distance of the Premier League’s top four with an impressive 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
A strong second-half performance from the Blues powered Enzo Maresca’s men to victory at the City Ground and led to the sacking of Forest boss Ange Postecoglou.
Chelsea made heavy weather of things in the first half and Maresca opted to make a triple substitution at half-time, which paid dividends for the visiting team.
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After the victory in Nottingham, the Chelsea boss has revealed what he thought his team were ‘sloppy’ at and why he rang the changes at the interval.
Enzo Maresca looks on prior to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final between Chelsea and PSG
Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images
Maresca explains substitutions
Chelsea withdrew Romeo Lavia, Alejandro Garnacho and Andrey Santos at the break against Forest, bringing Moises Caicedo, Jamie Gittens and Marc Guiu off the bench.
The changes had a big impact and the visitors were rewarded soon after the interval as Josh Acheampong broke the deadlock for the Blues.
Further goals from Pedro Neto and Reece James secured a comfortable win for Chelsea – something that Maresca attributes to his half-time changes.
“First half we struggled a little bit,’the Chelsea manager told the club’s official website.
“Off the ball we were good, but on the ball we made some mistakes and conceded chances to them.
“My message at half-time was the way we were pressing was good, but on the ball we were not good enough.
“We were sloppy in the build-up. Second half we adjusted something tactically and we were better.”
The win moves Chelsea into sixth place in the Premier League standings with 14 points from their first eight games.
Chelsea’s strength in depth evident
Maresca’s ability to bring on real quality from his bench when things were not going as planned at Forest was a key difference between the sides.
Moises Caicedo celebrates after scoring for Chelsea against West Ham
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The combined transfer fees of the three players introduced at half-time is well over £150 million, with the change in personnel leading to three points.
Chelsea coped well without key midfielder Enzo Fernandez and the return of Lavia to the first-team fold after injury setbacks is another big boost for the Stamford Bridge side.
The Blues are back in action in midweek with a home Champions League tie against Ajax.