Cesc Fabregas, who is expected to join Thierry Henry’s Monaco, had his spot-kick saved by Luke Steele after Danny Fox fouled Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Fabregas missed a penalty in potentially his last game in English football as Chelsea beat Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup third round.
But Alvaro Morata scored from close range in the second half from Callum Hudson-Odoi’s low right-wing cross. The pair later combined again as Morata headed a second.
It was a deserved win for the FA Cup holders, who dominated against a Forest side who are seventh in the Championship.
Bayern target Hudson-Odoi impresses
Hudson-Odoi’s future at Chelsea is also in doubt, with assistant manager Gianfranco Zola saying Bayern Munich are “very interested” in the 18-year-old forward, who won the Under-17 World Cup with England in 2017.
This was only his seventh appearance of the season, and he has yet to start a Premier League game in 2018-19. With Olivier Giroud, Pedro and Willian missing through injury and Eden Hazard on the bench, Hudson-Odoi got another chance to impress – and he took it.
Playing on the right wing, his excellent deliveries made both goals for Morata, who scored his first goals in six matches. Chelsea has reportedly rejected a £20m offer from Bayern for Hudson-Odoi.
Zola said: before Saturday’s match: “He hasn’t played probably as much as he wanted but this is down to the quality of the players in front of him.
“It’s about patience. I believe he has a bright future with us, but he will have to learn that right now for him it’s important to get better and better every day.”
Chelsea took 49 minutes to break Forest down, but the visitors offered little going forward apart from a 30-yard strike from Adlene Guedioura which was easily saved by Willy Caballero. Forest’s Daryl Murphy should have done better when he headed wide from a corner.
Source: BBC News
