Nottingham Forest edged Aston Villa in a closely fought first leg of their Europa League semi-final and will take a one-goal lead to Villa Park next week.
A tense but goalless first half was dominated by fine goalkeeping performances, with Emi Martinez making a superb double save from Igor Jesus from right on the goalline.
And neither side looked likely to score in the second – until Lucas Digne was penalised for handball as he flung an arm up when duelling with Omari Hutchinson at the byline.
The Forest player did well to hook a cross that looked destined to go out back into the box, knocking it off Digne’s arm in the process, and after a lengthy VAR check Forest were awarded the penalty.
Chris Wood smashed a sublime spot-kick into the top corner and although Forest pressed for another, and Villa spurned chances of their own, Vitor Pereira’s men came out on top with a 1-0 victory at a bouncing City Ground.
Forest’s win stretched their unbeaten run to nine games in all competitions as the 1979 and 1980 European champions enjoy some momentum after battling relegation from the Premier League all season, with Pereira their fourth boss since September.
“(Villa) are a very tough team, but we competed with them,” Pereira said. “This is a special group of players.
“I have the privilege to be the manager of these boys, they are a fantastic group. Spirit, four managers in a season, and finishing at this level, competing at this level together and united. This is a honour for me.”
Both goalkeepers were called into action in the first half. Villa’s Morgan Rogers latched onto a ball from Ollie Watkins, but his curling effort was saved by the diving Stefan Ortega.
At the other end, Martinez made a world-class save when he reached back to get an arm around the ball on the goal-line to keep out a point-blank shot from Igor Jesus.
Watkins nearly put Villa on the scoreboard early in the second half, but Ortega reacted quickly to block Watkins’s first-time shot from close range with an arm.
It looked like the stalemate might continue but Wood converted his penalty in the 71st minute, giving goalkeeper Martinez no chance with a powerful strike into the top corner.
In a meeting of two clubs chasing an end to trophy droughts stretching back decades, the result sends Pereira’s side to Villa Park for the7 May second leg with a narrow advantage.
The 34-year-old Wood returned from a six-month injury lay-off earlier this month and scored in Forest’s 5-0 Premier League thrashing of Sunderland last week that gave the 16th-placed team some breathing space in the relegation battle.
“I wanted to get back fit and firing to help my team as best as I can at the end of the season,” he said. “I knew we had a lot to play for when I was fighting to get fit and it’s showing. It’s some big competitions to be a part of.”
Braga or Freiburg await the winners in the final in Istanbul on 20 May, with the Portuguese side leading the Germans 2-1 from Thursday’s home first leg.
Additional reporting by Reuters
