Nottingham Forest’s chances of surviving in the Premier League were boosted by a 1-1 draw against Chelsea, who are still having trouble traveling.

Following victories over Tottenham and Liverpool at the City Ground this season, Forest put on another impressive performance against one of the big boys.

Raheem Sterling’s goal went against the flow of the game, but they played well in the second half, and Serge Aurier’s equalizer came just after the hour mark.

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Since Morgan Gibbs-White hit the crossbar, Steve Cooper’s squad should have, on the whole, won, but this will give them great incentive to escape the drop this year.

Chelsea at least averted its fourth straight away defeat, but they must considerably improve if they hope to close the seven-point deficit on the top four.

However, their excellent performance was ruined by the homophobic chants allegedly directed at the visiting fans by Forest supporters.

With the way they started by unsettling Chelsea with their pace, there was early hope for another triumph after they had defeated Liverpool in October and Spurs in the Carabao Cup.

Gibbs-White set Brennan Johnson up for a goal, but Kepa Arrizabalaga made two saves—the first was a strong stop, and the second was easier to retrieve.

Forest was ahead when they went behind in the 16th minute.

After Christian Pulisic was given too much freedom to deliver a cross that looped over Dean Henderson and off the crossbar after Willy Boly made a mess of trying to clear it, Sterling was eager to score his first Premier League goal since August.

With Pulisic’s shot going straight at Henderson and Cesar Azpilicueta’s attempt bouncing just wide, Graham Potter’s team had the lead, but they weren’t particularly dominant.

Forest received a golden opportunity just four minutes into the second half, which they took advantage of.

As Johnson ran free down the right, it seemed like the best course of action would be to square the ball to Taiwo Awoniyi. However, Johnson opted to shoot, and Kepa was able to make a low save to stop the shot.

They were only a few inches from from achieving parity five minutes later.

Gibbs-White expertly met Ryan Yates’ cross, but his initial shot crashed off the underside of the bar and just missed the goal.

Aurier equalized the score just after the hour mark with his first goal since January 2021.

After Chelsea failed to clear a corner, the former Tottenham defender used his chest to hold Boly’s header before thumping it home.

Despite Forest’s best efforts, they were unable to create any more clear-cut opportunities, thus they were forced to settle for a point that sent them into the relegation zone based on goal differential.

Forest may have thought they had a chance to find a worthy winner.