Nottingham Forest produced a gutsy display to hold Chelsea in a 1-1 draw at the City Ground, with the Blues now failing to win their opening league fixture of a calendar year since 2016.
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Forest looked to absorb Chelsea’s pressure and hit them on the counter-attack, as Morgan Gibbs-White threaded a pass towards Brennan Johnson, who saw both his efforts saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga.
However, it was Graham Potter’s side that broke the deadlock in fortuitous fashion, as Willy Boly inadvertently diverted Christian Pulisic’s cross onto the crossbar with his attempted back-heeled clearance, and Raheem Sterling fired in the rebound for his 50th Premier League away goal.
It moved Sterling up to 113 Premier League goals – level with Ian Wright as the joint-22nd highest goalscorer in the league’s history.
Gibbs-White then picked out Johnson, and Kepa was called into action once again to keep out the Welshman’s angled drive.
Ultimately, Chelsea might have been relieved to leave the East Midlands with a point, and sit eighth in the Premier League table.
Meanwhile, Forest moved up one place in the table to 18th, with only goal difference keeping Cooper’s side inside the relegation zone behind West Ham United.
