There was a party atmosphere at the City Ground with defeats for Luton Town and Burnley during the three o’clock kick-offs leaving Forest all but safe.
Chris Wood almost added to that when he was released behind early on, but Dorde Petrovic stood tall enough to stop the striker’s lofted effort.
Chelsea weren’t in the mood to enjoy that party as they chase European football, and having been so important to the Blues’ ambitions, Cole Palmer slid through a perfectly weighted pass for Mykhailo Mudryk to run onto and calmly finish to end his 10-game goalless run across all competitions.
It took just eight minutes for the hosts to respond, as Murillo made a lung-bursting run and was fouled for a free-kick that Morgan Gibbs-White clipped towards Willy Boly, whose header went in off Conor Gallagher.
The game’s pace eventually slowed following that blistering start but there were still opportunities, with Wood heading off-target after Petrović failed to convincingly deal with Danilo’s corner before Palmer played Nicolas Jackson through, only for the striker to be denied by Matz Sels.
Both sides pushed to go ahead and Palmer was uncharacteristically wasteful when Moises Caicedo found him shortly after.
Even so, Forest were on top and Gibbs-White was left furious after heading onto the post, especially with Wood sending his follow-up off-target, and Thiago Silva suffered a similar fate with his flicked header also hitting the woodwork.
Callum Hudson-Odoi was equally unfortunate when his curling effort cannoned off the crossbar.
Undeterred on his 100th PL appearance against his former club, the winger picked out the bottom corner with a similar finish shortly after.
However, Raheem Sterling swiftly responded in a similar fashion for his fourth goal in as many appearances against Forest.
A special moment followed as Reece James marked his first appearance since December by picking out Jackson for the striker to head in the winner for a breathtaking turnaround as Chelsea earned their third consecutive victory to go level on points with sixth-placed Newcastle United in the PL table.
While Forest are tantalisingly close to safety, they must wait for survival to be mathematically confirmed.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Cole Palmer (Chelsea)