Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca reveals sympathy for Ange Postecoglou after brutal Nottingham Forest sacking

Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was seen leaving his seat midway through the second half with his team trailing 2–0, and the manager’s departure was confirmed just 19 minutes after the final whistle.

Forest had started brightly but unravelled early in the second half.

Josh Acheampong headed in his first senior goal to break the deadlock, before Pedro Neto doubled Chelsea’s lead with a curling free-kick that left goalkeeper Matz Sels rooted.

Reece James then sealed the win, firing home from a corner to condemn Forest to a fourth straight defeat in all competitions and bring Postecoglou’s short reign to a close.

Maresca expressed his regret at the news during his post-match press conference.

“I didn’t speak with Ange. I didn’t see him but just said I feel very sorry for him,” the Chelsea manager said.

“But we said many times this is a business where if you don’t win games, the consequence for all of us is exactly the same. So, sorry for him.”

The victory lifted Chelsea further up the Premier League table, but it came at a cost.

Malo Gusto was sent off late in the match for a second bookable offence after bringing down Neco Williams, marking Chelsea’s fourth red card of the season.

Maresca acknowledged the dismissal was avoidable but defended his players’ commitment.

“We can do better in terms of the red card — that is a mistake at 3–0 already on one yellow card. We can avoid that,” he said.

“At the same time, the desire not to concede a goal is important.

“The second yellow card from Malo, of course he can avoid that, but the desire showed they were playing for a clean sheet and didn’t want to concede.

“It’s something we can do better, but I’m not concerned. The desire of the players is important.”

Maresca was forced to watch from the stands after serving a one-match touchline ban for celebrating on the pitch during Chelsea’s dramatic win over Liverpool.

The Italian admitted he hated being away from the dugout but praised his side’s response after a sluggish opening period.

“Very bad feeling to be there,” he said.

“I prefer to be in the dugout, to be honest. My message at half-time was that off the ball we were good, on the ball not good enough.

“We can avoid sloppy mistakes. We looked sloppy in the build-up, which was not good enough.”

While Maresca left Nottingham celebrating another statement win, the evening marked the end of a difficult chapter for Postecoglou, whose brief spell at Forest ended in the most unforgiving way — with a defeat that sealed his fate within minutes of the final whistle.