Nottingham Forest’s hopes of earning automatic qualification to the knockout rounds of the Europa League are all but over after a disastrous 1-0 defeat at Braga.
Forest were sunk by skipper Ryan Yates’ second-half own goal, which came less than a minute after Morgan Gibbs-White missed a penalty.
The defeat leaves Forest almost certain to go into the play-off round and face two extra fixtures in the thick of an already packed schedule. They are on 11 points – three adrift of the top eight – but they would need seven teams above them to either lose or drop points.
A miserable night ended in a straight red card for Elliot Anderson in injury time after he appeared to say something to referee Igor Pajac.
It worsens the mood surrounding the club, with disgruntled fans making their feelings clear in a sodden Portugal as the pressure builds on manager Sean Dyche.
Forest are closing in on the signing of striker Lorenzo Lucca and they will hope that lifts the mood ahead of Sunday’s Premier League trip to Brentford.
They had no recognised striker in Portugal due to an injury to Igor Jesus, with Taiwo Awoniyi not being registered.
Winger Dan Ndoye was deployed in the number nine position but offered little presence and Forest struggled for clear-cut chances in a drab first half.
The only time they tested the Braga goalkeeper was when Gibbs-White sent a 20-yard free-kick heading into the top corner, but Lukas Hornicek produced a great save.
The hosts were not up to much in the first half either and only threatened once. Forest right-back Nicolo Savona was dozing at the far post and Gabri Martinez got on the end of Victor Gomez’ cross but his header went wide.
The game swung in a decisive 54 seconds after the break. Five minutes after the restart, Forest were awarded a penalty after James McAtee was felled after a collision with Martinez.
The decision survived a VAR check, but Gibbs-White’s spot-kick was poor and Hornicek got down well to keep it out.
Braga went straight up to the other end and went ahead, less than 60 seconds later. It was a horrible goal for Forest to concede as Ricardo Horta bundled the ball into the penalty area and his cutback hit Yates and rolled into the net.
Gibbs-White was left shaking his head but had the chance to make amends minutes later. McAtee played him in but he blazed over the crossbar from a promising position.
Forest’s response was good and they were denied by the woodwork as Ola Aina’s swerving 30-yard drive thundered into the crossbar.
Then Braga hit the post as they searched for a second, with Pau Victor’s effort inches away from finding the back of the net.
Forest did push for a leveller but Gibbs-White was again denied by Hornicek, who also denied Ndoye at the far post, with Yates seeing his header from the rebound deflected on to the roof of the net.
The night ended on a sour note when England international Anderson was shown a straight red card for something he said to the referee.
