Nottingham Forest player ratings vs Chelsea: Taiwo Awoniyi dominates, James McAtee fails

Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from Football Insider or go back to LFC Live.

Mon 4 May 2026 17:32, UK Nottingham Forest have taken a massive step towards Premier League safety after smashing Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge on Monday.Vitor Pereira’s side got off to the perfect start when Taiwo Awoniyi headed in Dilane Bakwa’s cross after just two minutes had been played. After the break, Awoniyi added his second and Nottingham Forest’s third, with Joao Pedro’s stunning late bicycle kick proving nothing more than a consolation. ⚽ Nottingham Forest Matchday ⚽ Team news, line-ups, expert previews and tactical analysis for every Nottingham Forest fixture.

Taiwo AwoniyiStats vs Chelsea (A)Minutes played90Goals2Penalties won1Expected goals (xG)1.10Recoveries3Duels won1/6But he has appeared to come alive in recent weeks, and Monday’s performance was a statement to Pereira. Awoniyi’s first goal was a superb header, and the struggles the home side were having in dealing with him were laid bare when Gusto dragged him down for the penalty.His movement was rewarded again when he tapped in Morgan Gibbs-White’s ball for his second goal, and he has well and truly given his manager something to think about ahead of Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg.James McAtee failed to make the most of his chance vs ChelseaStarts in the Premier League have been incredibly hard to come by for James McAtee this season – Monday’s was just his second.Ahead of Thursday’s big game, the 23-year-old would have hoped to use the chance to prove his ability to make an impact.By no means was the midfielder poor.

But McAtee needed to be impressive if he was going to catch Pereira’s eye, and he was not that. Ultimately, Pereira’s reluctance to bring McAtee into the starting line-up has only been ratified by a lacklustre performance.