It was the worst possible start today for Forest. Just 25 seconds from the first kick Zola picked up a clearance from Rogers and sent a curling shot past Beasant, to take a very early lead. Minutes later Zola left Chettle for dead and forced a brilliant save from Beasant. Chelsea had virtually all the play in the first half and on 34 minutes Beasant saved a header from Casaraghi but was unable to get the ball behind. Poyet collected the ball and scored easily. One minute from half time Forest's only chance on goal came from Rogers who hit a shot from 25 yards to force a good save from the keeper. But Chelsea looked by far the more superior side in the first half. If it hadn't been for several saves from Dave Beasant it could have easily been 5-0 when the first half whistle went.

At the start of the second half Chelsea looked happy to sit on the 2 goal lead. On 55 minutes Thomas went off injured and Harewood joined Darcheville up front and this seemed to make a difference to the Forest side. On 68 minutes Darcheville picked up a through ball from Quashie. With pace and composure he took the ball past the keeper and left-footed the ball into the empty net. The goal gave a new lease of life to both the team and the large group of Forest supporters who had made the journey to Stamford Bridge. Steve Stone linked up well with Harewood, but the ball was cleared by the keeper. Darcheville also had a good shot saved. Forest started to look the better team for a while and with pressure from Forest, Chelsea started to look poor at the back.

Unfortunately, it was all too late and the game finished 2-1. Both halves were punctuated with a string of great saves from Beasant who, in spite of the scoreline, was undoubtedly Forest's man of the match.