Enzo Maresca one step from full vindication as Chelsea owners put on united front

They celebrated the £100m goal in the away end, on the touchline and among the players. And, for once, is unlikely to end in a charge from the Football Association.

This was day after Levi Colwill’s second half winner settled it and got the Blues back into the Chelsea finished the season in fourth, could yet win a European trophy and will have to make do with the Europa Conference League.

No wonder at the end as all of their investment and crazy spending is beginning to pay off. The away end, decked out in blue scarves, could enjoy a happy ending to a day of nerves when Chelsea got the job done and got themselves back onto European football’s top stage.

On Wednesday, Chelsea face Real Betis in the Europa Conference League final in Wroclaw and if they can lift that trophy then it will be full vindication for as manager.

Chelsea flirted with a title challenge before Christmas but fell away and yet the rewards, cash and incentives on offer next season should speed up the rebuild.

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In contrast, Forest just could not find one more chapter in their remarkable story this season but this year must still go down as truly memorable for Nuno Espirito Santo and his players.

Cruelly, it was Chris Wood - Forest’s unlikely hero and top scorer - who missed a big late chance which would not have got them into the Champions League but would have got them a point to elevate them into the Europa League.

Instead, Forest will have to make do with a European campaign and let’s hope that is enough for owner Evangelos Marinakis who has made a habit of running onto the pitch to make his feelings plain to players, managers and the officials.

The Forest faithful after for having the temerity to speak out against Marinakis.

And you will not find much sympathy among the Forest fans because Marinakis has helped transform the City Ground with banners about European tours draped across the stands.

This has been a season Forest will never forget even if a few weeks ago they were entrenched in the top five - and now miss out. There must be a sense of what might have been but they cannot lose sight of the progress.

There was a certain irony that three years ago it was Colwill - on loan at Huddersfield at the time - who scored the own goal to put Forest into the Premier League via the Championship play-off final at Wembley. Now Colwill, an established starter at Chelsea and England international, got the goal to put the Blues into the promised land of the Champions League.

Maybe with so much at stake, the nerves got in the way of the football. It was loud, raucous and rocking. It has been like that all season for Forest. But the other trait also remained - they can struggle for goals.

Forest had pressure and possession but did not create. Wood put one chance over the bar and then Chelsea began to take charge in the second half.

Forest failed to clear the danger, Pedro Neto put a ball across the face of the goal and there was Colwill to steer in just in front of the away fans.

As news of other scores filtered through, the game felt a bit flat by the end - unless you were Chelsea of course. Wood put one over the bar deep into injury time but could not save the day.

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