Nottingham Forest 0-1 Chelsea: Colwill winner secures UCL for Maresca's men

Chelsea qualified for the Champions League at Nottingham Forest's expense as Levi Colwill's goal handed the Blues a 1-0 final-day victory at the City Ground.

With Chelsea entering the final matchday of 2024-25 holding a one-point advantage over Forest, they knew three points would confirm a top-five finish while ending their hosts' hopes.

Forest needed a win paired with favours from elsewhere but, after 50 tense minutes, Pedro Neto teed up Colwill for a simple close-range finish in front of the travelling fans.

Chris Wood had earlier missed a presentable chance to put Forest ahead and he fired over from another in second-half stoppage time, but Nuno Espirito Santo's men otherwise struggled to make an impression after falling behind, never truly threatening a comeback.

The result means Chelsea finish fourth in the table, four points ahead of Forest, whose impressive campaign ends with a seventh-placed finish and Conference League qualification.

Forest started positively but it was the visitors who created the first major opening when Neto turned Cole Palmer's right-wing cross over the top after half an hour.

Wood then beat Robert Sanchez to Ola Aina's delivery but failed to keep his volley down and that was punished after the restart when Colwill tapped home after Neco Williams' poor header allowed Neto to slide the ball across the face of goal.

Forest attempted to dial up the pressure as Aina sent a wild effort off target, but they were kept at arm's length by a resolute Chelsea backline.

Entering eight minutes of stoppage time needing two goals to gatecrash the top five, Forest saw Wood volley over on the stretch while Elliot Anderson's cross-shot was hacked clear, as Chelsea clung on.

Data Debrief: Forest end long Europe wait

There will be disappointment for Forest that it is not the top table of Europe they will play in next season, but it still marks their first continental venture since 1995-96 when they reached the UEFA Cup quarter-finals under Frank Clark.

The Tricky Trees' 19 wins in the Premier League this season is the joint-most by a team to not finish in the top six, along with Manchester United in 2013-14 (also seventh).

For Chelsea, the 1-0 victory marked the first time they managed to win and keep a clean sheet in a Premier League away game since September (3-0 versus West Ham).

Moreover, it represented just their second win in their last 11 league games on the road (D3, L6).