Key Takeaways
- Nottingham Forest beat Porto 1-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate to reach the Europa League semi-finals.
- Morgan Gibbs-White’s deflected strike sealed the tie after Jan Bednarek was sent off early for the visitors.
- Forest now face fellow Premier League side Aston Villa, with the first leg at the City Ground on 30 April.
Nottingham Forest are through to the last four of the Europa League after a hard-fought win over FC Porto at a rocking City Ground on Thursday night.
A 29th-minute strike from Morgan Gibbs-White, which took a big deflection off Porto midfielder Pablo Rosario, proved enough to settle the quarter-final 2-1 on aggregate and earn a semi-final date with Aston Villa.
The tie turned inside the opening quarter-hour when Porto defender Jan Bednarek was shown a straight red for a wild lunge on Chris Wood. The New Zealand striker’s night ended there, adding to Forest’s growing injury list ahead of Sunday’s relegation six-pointer with Burnley.
Down to ten men, Porto struggled to cope with Forest’s energy. Gibbs-White arrowed in the winner and pointed to the sky in tribute to team-mate Elliot Anderson, who is away from the squad after the death of his mother.
Porto twice struck the woodwork in the second half through William Gomes and Alan Varela, but Forest held firm to reach their first European semi-final since 1984.
Manager Vitor Pereira must now juggle continental dreams with Premier League survival. Murillo and Callum Hudson-Odoi also picked up knocks, leaving the squad stretched before the visit of Burnley.
The two-legged clash with Unai Emery’s Villa starts at the City Ground on 30 April, with the return in Birmingham a week later. An English finalist is guaranteed for the second year running.