It is not the record that Chelsea's owners dreamt of when they bought the club four years ago - Monday's 3-1 home defeat by Nottingham Forest means the Londoners have now lost six league games in a row for the first time since 1993, Reuters reported. 

It could have been worse - until Joao Pedro's spectacular overhead strike in the 93rd minute, they were on course to suffer six consecutive league defeats without scoring in any of those matches for the first time in their 121-year history.

With the former European champions plummeting down the league table, the sole comfort for their fans is likely to be that there are only three more league games until the end of the season and the club cannot be relegated.