**Chelsea**clinched a Champions League spot as they won 1-0 at Nottingham Forest to finish fourth in the table. A 'winner takes all' affair was never likely to be pretty, but the Blues handled business.
Here are four things we learned from this triumph for Chelsea:
If there was one redeeming factor for the Blues in their last campaign, it was their output in the final third. The Blues bagged the fifth most goals out of any outfit in the Premier League (77) and out of the chaotic construction of their squad, **Cole Palmer**played a starring role in their blueprint.
This term, they netted 13 fewer strikes, slipping to seventh in the scoring standings. One only needs to take a look at their performance in this fixture to figure out some of the problems they are facing.
The new year has been one to forget for Palmer. Under Mauricio Pochettino, he had more freedom to wreak havoc across the final third as an overlapping fullback allowed him to drift off the right flank. Now, the demands have changed with the new management, and he looks like less of a talisman.
Marc Cucurella continues to move into the middle of the park in possession, but he has gained a more involved role, repeatedly moving into areas that the attacker might occupy. Now, Palmer plays a more fixed central position, and teams can target the spaces he is meant to fill. Not for the first time, he rarely registered a threat in the final third, notching only one effort across ninety minutes of action.
The supply line has dried up for Palmer, who only scored once and assisted twice in the league from the start of February. He has ownership of his form, but Enzo Maresca may have to think more about how he platforms the qualities of the 23-year-old to ensure he is having fun with his football again.
Chelsea cry out for a central forward
The issue of the central forward in their system also remains. Nicolas Jackson, their first choice for the role, has been out of action for a few weeks after a red card at Newcastle United, but he has continued to face critics over the quality of his finishing despite his good work outside the box.
This display was not a day when the team would bemoan missing many chances. Forest have excelled because of how well they are drilled off the ball and when the two teams met in October, they picked off patterns of play through the middle of the field. That would happen once more in this match.
Nuno Espirito Santo switched to a diamond as red shirts sat tightly in their block. If the guests were going to get any joy feeding the ball through the lines, they needed a firm physical presence to roll the central defenders and hold onto the ball with their back to the goal. Pedro Neto is a lively winger, and he has tried his best to deputize for the squad as a striker, but he was meat and drink for Murillo.
Summer signings should give some assistance to the attack. Even if Jadon Sancho goes back to Man United, the fans will look forward to the arrival of Estevao. Noni Madueke is also making steps forward in his career, illustrating he can be a dynamic dribbling threat on the left as well as the right.
But a standout striker has spearheaded every great **Chelsea**outfit, and they will be short without one.
Chelsea can win in other ways
For fans who want to see more control from their team, a lower goal tally is not necessarily a bad thing. Maresca's men have also conceded 20 fewer goals than they did last season. When it came down to the wire, they would be grateful for their defenders to deliver the result required on the day.
**Chelsea**have kept clean sheets in three of their last five fixtures, calling on the services of their men at the back. Robert Sanchez might have missed the ball as Chris Wood fired over the bar in the first half, but he has been a little less sloppy in goal. Tosin Adarabioyo adds height in the centre of the defence and was a welcome presence on Sunday against a striker who hit 20 goals this season.
But this win would belong to Levi Colwill. He has been able to feature as a central defender, his ideal role, for the whole season and stood out at both ends of the pitch. Before the break, his intelligence and speed allowed him to bail out Marc Cucurella, who came under pressure from the fleet-footed Anthony Elanga. At the other end of the field, he earned the winning goal in the second half.
Maresca mentioned his men had to adapt to get over the line— and that is something they have to learn to succeed. Their resilience revealed an edge that top teams need to have when they cannot impose their will with free-flowing football and spotlighted one of the players who will want to prove that the project in west London can go further than the critics had thought a few months ago.
All in all, **Chelsea**can be content that they have ticked off one of their top targets for the season.
The club has been building back towards the top after Todd Boehly took over in 2022. A torrid 12th-place finish in 2023 and sixth spot in 2024 had set the standards lower in some camps and that did not automatically change once Maresca came into the dugout due to his inexperience and the youthfulness of the players at his disposal. Indeed, it has felt that many had been waiting for him to fail in the next chapter of a botched BlueCo project with billions of wasted spending on the squad.
But the team have earned the right to play in the Champions League for the first time in three years.
Their formidable form at the end of the campaign was by no means a guarantee. A 2-2 draw at home to Ipswich Town seemed to signal a big blow for their top five ambitions but the Blues banked five wins from their last six fixtures in the league. On the way they had beaten Liverpool, Everton, and **Man United**before a straight shootout with Forest, proving that they could handle the pressure.
The **City Ground**has also been a stumbling block for the rest of the 'Big Six.' **Arsenal**and **Liverpool**only walked away with draws from the stadium in the new year while Tottenham, Man United, and **Man City**all succumbed to 1-0 losses. History was not with the Blues, but they did the job at hand.