A draw at home against a Forest team with 10 players took Chelsea off the Premier League podium on matchday 7, in which Manchester United also failed to win.
The ‘Blues’, in numerical superiority for half an hour, dropped two points after drawing 1-1 against Nottingham Forest (10th), and remain in 4th position with 14 points, three points behind the duo made up of Manchester City ( 2nd) and Arsenal (3rd) and four behind the leader Liverpool.
This result put an end to the streak of five victories in all competitions for Enzo Maresca’s men, while for the East Midlands team the point tastes like glory for a club that usually fights for permanence.
Cole Palmer, Chelsea’s most in-form player, did not score but did assist Noni Madueke (57) to tie the match, after the initial goal by New Zealander Chris Wood (49) for the visitors.
The game became more difficult for the locals when James Ward-Prowse was sent off for a double yellow card (78) and minutes later the German goalkeeper Matz Sels made a sensational double save on Palmer (87).
Although the tie was not enough, Chelsea could have left empty-handed, after Spanish goalkeeper Robert Sánchez prevented a visitor’s goal on two occasions in added time (90+10, 90+14) that would have fallen as a jug of cold water on Stamford Bridge.
– Three Premier games without scoring –
Upon returning from the break, the ‘Blues’ will visit leader Liverpool on October 20, a litmus test for the reborn Chelsea project.
The result at Villa Park was also transcendental for Manchester United and its coach, the Dutchman Erik ten Hag, after a streak of poor results in both the Premier League and the Champions League.
In front of them was Unai Emery’s Aston Villa and the scene was the same one in which four days ago Birmingham defeated Bayern Munich (1-0).
The 0-0 draw did not help either the locals to continue pushing for the podium or United to break their streak, and the ‘Red Devils’ have now totaled five consecutive games in all competitions without winning (4 draws and 1 loss) and three Premier League without scoring.
“We know that at the moment we are short of goals,” Ten Hag told Sky Sports. “In that aspect it is not a good start (to the season), we have to take a step forward. It is an area in which we have to improve.”
The result is not yet fatal for Ten Hag’s future, but the coach goes into the national team break questioned and in need of immediate results when club football returns in two weeks.
Aston Villa is fifth, tied on points with Chelsea but with a worse goal difference, while United occupies 14th position, with only eight points in 7 games.
The day closes with the duel between Brighton and Tottenham on the south coast of England.
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