It was a frustrating evening for Chelsea as they took on Nottingham Forest at the City Ground and returned to some familiar ways. Graham Potter's side were unable to challenge the opposition goal often enough or find much fluency on the first day of the year as they stumbled to a 1-1 draw.
Raheem Sterling opened the scoring when a Christian Pulisic cross caused an obscure deflection from Willy Boly leading to the ball hitting the crossbar for the England international to blast into the net. The Blues were in a good position just after the 15-minute mark but the home side fought their way back into the game, and when the sides returned for the second half, Steve Cooper's team went well into the ascendancy.
Serge Aurier finished well when Chelsea were unable to clear a corner and while Potter made plenty of changes, it could be argued that Forest had the better chances despite the Blues superior possession. Potter gave credit to the opposition for their second half performance.
