Nottingham Forest 1-0 Villa: Hosts seal narrow win as Wood nets pen following a handball from Digne

Nottingham Forest used the City Ground to their advantage to edge ahead in their UEFA Europa League (UEL) semi-final tie, beating Aston Villa 1-0 to improve their chances of lifting a third major European title.

Match Report

As these two former continental champions fought out the opening exchanges of the first all-English European semi-final since 2009, it looked as though it might be a cagey first leg. But early saves from Stefan Ortega off Youri Tielemans and Morgan Rogers, coupled with some promising moves from Forest, challenged that midway through the first half. And the look on Emiliano Martínez’s face said it all when he just about prevented Igor Jesus’ close-range effort from crossing the line, keeping his side from going behind for the first time in five UEL away matches.

That was about it for the first half, but there was renewed hope for both sides after the break, and Ollie Watkins’ poke goalwards proved an easy stop for an in-position Ortega. A lull in play followed, meaning it was a surprise when referee João Pinheiro was called to the VAR screen and awarded a penalty after Omari Hutchinson hooked it back off the byline onto the outstretched arm of Lucas Digne. Chris Wood seemed unfazed in bulleting into the top left from the spot, scoring in back-to-back games for the first time since returning from injury.

The expected resurgence from the visitors never really materialised following the goal, and Forest instead saw out the victory looking likelier to score themselves. With a top-five finish in the Premier League looking very likely, Unai Emery may well rotate his side this weekend, with a strong performance needed in the second leg for the Spaniard to progress from a sixth successive UEL semi-final as a manager. Forest will be delighted to hold the advantage, one which they’ll likely need given that they haven’t beaten the Villans away from home since 1994.

Match Events

1' The match is about to start!

9' Tielemans gets on the end of a pass and shoots, but the keeper pulls off an easy save to deny him

24' Gibbs-White connects with a cross from the side, but produces a header which goes miles wide

58' Watkins unleashes a close-range volley low towards the net, but his effort is saved

71' GOAL! Chris Wood makes no mistake and scores the penalty! Nottingham Forest 1-0 Aston Villa

78' Tielemans challenges an opponent and receives a yellow card for his ugly tackle

Line-ups

Nottingham Forest XI: Wood, Ortega, Aina, Elliot Anderson, Milenkovic, Gibbs-White, Dominguez, Neco Williams, Igor Jesus, Morato, Omari Hutchinson

Subs: Sels, Ryan Yates, Lorenzo Lucca, Dilane Bakwa, McAtee, Justin Hanks, Zach Abbott, Jimmy Sinclair, Archie Whitehall, Keehan Willows, Zyan Blake

Aston Villa XI: E. Martinez, Digne, McGinn, Tielemans, Ollie Watkins, Buendia, P. Torres, Ngoyo, Matty Cash, Morgan Rogers, Amadou Onana

Subs: Lindelof, Marco Bizot, Mings, Abraham, Bailey, Douglas Luiz, Sancho, Elliott, Maatsen, Lamare Bogarde, James Wright, Andrés García