Awoniyi doubles up as much-changed Forest step towards safety and add to Chelsea gloom

A second-string Nottingham Forest served up the shock of the Premier League weekend as they ran through an insipid Chelsea side in west London to keep their dual bid for Premier League safety and European glory alive.

After Vítor Pereira announced eight changes from the team that beat Aston Villa in the Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday night, and with the second leg just three days away, the Forest boss said he had “changed the players but not the spirit” of his team. If there were eyebrows raised when the news came in, Pereira’s appraisal turned out to be entirely correct. His understudies – led by the two-goal Taiwo Awoniyi and the winger Dilane Bakwa – were every inch the match of the many amortised investments that lined up for their opponents.