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VIEW MATCH REPORT

Monday 29 Jan 2007
Chelsea 3 Nottingham Forest 0
Cloughie would have been proud

Nottingham Forest may be out of the FA cup but, in spite of the scoreline, they can be proud of themselves for putting in a committed performance, particularly in the second half.

Forest were out-played and out-classed in the first half, conceded three goals and didn't manage one shot on target.

There was very little let-up in pressure by Chelsea in the second half but Forest put in a much improved performance and, as well as keeping a clean sheet, they came close to scoring.

The game was all Chelsea from the start and was less than three minutes old when Forest's goal was put under pressure with Shevchenko putting in a fierce shot from 12 yards out on the right, which Paul Smith did well to parry away.

And they had another chance but Didier Drogba mis-kicked and Smith was able to gather the ball up.

Chelsea took the lead in the ninth minute from a throw-in. The ball came to an unmarked Shevchenko whose shot came off John Curtis, wrong-footing Smith who dived the wrong way and was deflected into the back of the net.

And they scored again in the 18th minute when Nicky Southall's foul gave them a free kick to the left of the D. Drogba's effort from 20 yards out flew over the wall and dipped down inside the left post just out of Smith's reach.

In spite of this the Forest crowd remained vocal and refused to be out-sung by the home crowd.

It was 33 minutes before Petr Cech had to do anything but the offside flag had gone up before Grant Holt's effort was easily gathered up by the Chelsea keeper.

As Chelsea were quickly back on the attach Nathan Tyson turned defender as he raced back to stop Drogba from getting a shot in.

Forest got forward again and James Perch fired in a cross from the left but Michael Essian was able to make the clearance before Junior Agogo could get on the end of it.

Chelsea had a chance at the start of stoppage time when Lampard laid the ball off to Mikel but Perch made a good challenge to clear the ball.

But Chelsea made it three seconds later when the ball came in to an over-crowded box. The ball came down and off Smith but landed for Mickel who poked the ball in from 3 yards.

Sammy Clingan replaced Grant Holt at half time and, with Chelsea once again pushing forward, Clingan was soon involved in making a clearance.

Ten minutes into the half Forest started to put some good passing football together and they came closest to getting a goal when Agogo turned and shot across the face of goal; but nobody could slide in to get on the end of it although Perch came close and the ball went just wide of the far post.

And then Perch made a terrific run down the left from the half way line into the box but he knocked the ball too far in front of himself and Ricardo Carvalho came in for it.

Chelsea made a quick break and Shevchenko fired the ball across the face of goal but there was nobody close enough to get on the end of it.

Smith made a brilliant save to prevent a fourth Chelsea goal when Wright-Phillips' cross was headed down by substitute Salomon Kalou and the Forest keeper made a diving save.

Frank Lampard's shot went flying towards goal and although Smith was diving the wrong way he managed to stop the ball with his leg.

A double substitution saw Jack Lester and Scott Dobie come on for Agogo and Perch with the latter receiving a standing ovation from the Forest fans for his performance.

Chelsea looked certain to score when Essien's powerful header went flying towards goal but it was cleared off the line by Curtis.

When Forest were awarded a free kick to the right of the penalty area, Southall's effort was cleared as far as Clingan who sent the ball flying towards goal. Twice the ball came back out to Clingan who seemed determined to get a consolation goal but eventually the ball was cleared.

Almost all the 6,000 plus Forest supporters, who had been brilliant throughout the game, stayed until the final whistle to applaud the Forest players who went across to them.