Mudryk’s promise, James is BACK and Caicedo shines – Who was Chelsea’s key man in Forest win?

Robin Bairner

• 11 May 2024 20:32 BST
• 3 min read

Chelsea continued their strong conclusion to the Premier League season with a 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Saturday.

It was a performance that highlighted how far they have come in recent weeks. When Callum Hudson-Odoi smashed in a go-ahead goal against his former club with 15 minutes remaining, the Blues might have wilted. Instead, goals from Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson turned the game in their favour.

There was much to digest about Chelsea’s play.

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Mykhailo Mudryk looked bright and the manner in which he took his first-half finish suggested that the €70 million player the Blues bought is in there somewhere. It was a goal fashioned by Cole Palmer, who was his usual excellent self.

Sterling, meanwhile, impressed off the bench and led the comeback with a well-taken strike soon after Chelsea had fallen behind.

The winger’s contribution set the scene for Reece James to make a decisive return from injury.

The right-back was only entered the play after 79 minutes, but on his first appearance after five months out timed a run down the right perfectly before supplying an inch-perfect cross that Jackson converted to win the game.

READ MORE: How many goals has Mykhailo Mudryk scored for Chelsea?

There has been talk of him leaving to Real Madrid, but if Chelsea can be confident of his fitness, this cannot be allowed to happen.

James’ return will, rightly, earn the headlines but the excellent performance of Moises Caicedo in the midfield deserves acclaim.

According to FootballCritic, he was Chelsea’s best player, earning a score of 8.3 for a second successive game. James, incidentally, was not on the park long enough to get a rating.

The former Brighton man was a busy figure in the midfield, having 111 touches of the ball, claiming three interceptions and completing seven recoveries. These latter two figures were team-best figures.

Meanwhile, he completed 92% of his passes, including what has gone down as an assist to Sterling, though the winger had to do much of the work himself.