Star Chelsea forward Jesse Derry was stretchered off on his English Premier League debut on Monday after he suffered a head injury during the match against Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge.
Derry was left needing oxygen after a worrying clash of heads with Zach Abbott of Nottingham Forest. As the former tried to control an awkward bouncing ball, he knocked it upward.
Abbott then lunged in to challenge for it but missed the ball and instead struck Derry on the side of the head, with both footballers going down.
While Abbott managed to get back to his feet, Derry remained on the ground. Play was halted for over 10 minutes at Stamford Bridge as medical staff administered oxygen and treated him on the field.
The severity of the collision was evident,
leaving multiple footballers shaken.
Derry had earlier won a penalty for Chelsea during the same passage of play, but his teammates were more focused on his condition and called for play to be stopped. As Derry was stretchered off, both Chelsea and Nottingham Forest supporters stood to applaud him in a show of solidarity.
After a delay of around 10 minutes while Derry received treatment, Cole Palmer stepped up to take the resulting penalty. But the usually reliable spot-kick taker couldn’t convert, as Matz Sels guessed and made a strong save.
Palmer looked all set to pounce on the rebound, but Matz Sels reacted to smother the danger. It proved to be a key chance that Chelsea couldn’t convert in a tense moment.
Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest took a huge step towards Premier League survival with a 3-1 victory over Chelsea.
Taiwo Awoniyi marked his 100th appearance for Nottingham Forest by scoring the early opener at Stamford Bridge, before Igor Jesus converted a penalty to double their advantage soon after.
