James makes stunning comeback to strengthen Chelsea’s push for Europe: Five things we learned from win over Nottingham Forest | OneFootball

Chelsea came from 2-1 down to beat Nottingham Forest 3-2 at the City Ground as Reece James made his return from injury to set up Nicolas Jackson for the winning goal.

Mykhailo Mudryk had put the Blues ahead early on before Willy Boly’s headed equaliser and former Chelsea man Callum Hudson-Odoi’s fine finish.

But Raheem Sterling and then Jackson’s late goals saw Mauricio Pochettino and his side strengthen their push for European qualification.

Here are five talking points from the game…

Palmer’s passing

Cole Palmer has won plenty of plaudits this season for the number of goals he has scored but what has perhaps gone under the radar is how good of a passer he is. He brilliantly sent Mudryk through on goal with an incisive pass for the opener and did the same later in the first half for Jackson, which he should have scored from. Playing him in the number 10 role has freed him up to pick up different positions and make things happen.

Jubilant scenes at the City Ground but message from fans is clear

Nottingham Forest’s evening was made a lot more comfortable by the news that both Luton Town and Burnley had suffered defeats prior to their game with Chelsea. It means Forest have essentially already secured survival because of the disparity in goal difference between themselves and Luton, which created a party-like atmosphere before the game among the home crowd. Despite that, however, reports that Forest may be considering moving to a new home stadium in the future due to ongoing disagreements with the council have not been well received by the fans and the message was clear. They want to stay at the City Ground.

James makes the perfect comeback

It’s been another injury nightmare for Reece James this season, who was named in the Chelsea squad for the first time since December in the game against Forest. He came off the bench to make one of his trademark surging runs down the right-hand side and pick out Jackson to head home the winner. It is a massive boost for Chelsea and Pochettino to have him back fit and firing ahead of a crucial pre-season going into the next campaign for the full-back.

Hudson-Odoi starting to shine

Former Chelsea winger Hudson-Odoi has had a difficult couple of seasons but is starting to look like the bright prospect we first saw at Stamford Bridge all those years ago. He scored a brilliant second for his side and was a real handful all game long, and has now scored eight goals this season. The 23-year-old cost the club just £3m – a remarkable piece of business.

Chelsea in Europe?

It has been a fantastic turnaround by Pochettino’s Chelsea of late and his side are now in real contention to at least make the Europa Conference League next season. That looked a slim possibility earlier on in the season but the Blues boss is starting to win over even some of the more skeptical fans and recent form along with players returning from injury should provide enormous encouragement going into next season.