Porto 1-1 Nottingham Forest - Dragons miss a golden opportunity in the Europa League | OneFootball

Porto were held to a 1-1 draw by Nottingham Forest in the UEFA Europa League quarter-final first leg Estádio do Dragão.

The Dragons should have scored in the opening minute. Borja Sainz released Sekou Fofana who squared the ball to Terem Moffi, his shot saved by Stefan Ortega who collected a tame follow up effort from Sainz.

Sainz had another chance soon after following some nice build up play between Pablo Rosario and Gabri Veiga, the Spaniard lacking power and placement once again.

It was third time lucky for Porto who took the lead in the 11th minute. Rosario played a neat 1-2 with Sainz before sending Veiga through, the midfielder sending a cross to the back post where William Gomes executed an easy finish.

The lead would last just two minutes with Nottingham Forest’s equaliser coming in bizarre fashion. Martim Fernandes hit a back pass to Diogo Costa with too much power, the goalkeeper helplessly watching the ball roll into his own net.

If you thought that was strange, what happened to Fernandes next was extraordinary. Veiga’s dumb foul on Dan Ndoye saw the Forest player fall and injure Fernandes’ ankle, the teenager forced off with Alberto Costa entering the fray.

The intensity of the first 20 minutes could not be maintained with both teams getting sloppy. Moffi had a chance in added time, heading Fofana’s cross at Ortega.

Vítor Pereira made two changes at the break with Murillo and Chris Wood making way for Nikola Milenkovic and Igor Jesus.

Gomes went on a long run and dragged his shot wide as the Dragons dominated the contest, a succession of corners getting the home crowd into the game.

James McAtee stung Costa’s hands with a long range effort but the goalkeeper was not being tested.

Francesco Farioli made a triple substitution in the 59th minute when Gabri Veiga, Borja Sainz and Terem Moffi were replaced by Victor Froholdt, Pepê and Deniz Gül.

Pereira brought on Neco Williams and Omari Hutchinson for Dilane Bakwa and Morgan Gibbs-White.

Igor Jesus put the ball into the net but had fouled Costa in the lead up. That was as close as the visitors would go for the remainder of the game.

Gomes forced a save from Ortega, Gül and Froholdt went close before Alan Varela’s deflected shot was no problem for at Ortega. The goalkeeper collected another easy save from Thiago Silva who got onto the end of Varela’s free kick.

Missed opportunity

Porto fully deserved their early lead but it lasted only two minutes before Martim Fernandes’ unlucky own goal.

Nottingham Forest hardly looked like scoring themselves and proved why they are battling against relegation in the Premier League.

Francesco Farioli’s side ended with 16-6 shots, 8-2 on target and 2.17-0.45 expected goals. Poor finishing was their downfall but the tie is far from over.

The Dragons have already played at the City Ground this season and there is no reason they can’t win to reach the semi-finals. Farioli will be hoping Rodrigo Mora has recovered to play a part, his guile and creativiy sorely missed.

Vítor Pereira received a touching ovation before kickoff, the manager returning to the club where he was assistant under André Villas-Boas before winning Primeira Liga titles in 2012 and 2013.

Lineups

Porto (4-3-3) Diogo Costa; Martim Fernandes (Alberto Costa 19’), Thiago Silva, Jan Bednarek, Zaidu Sanusi; Gabri Veiga (Victor Froholdt 59’), Pablo Rosario, Sekou Fofana (Alan Varela 74’); William Gomes, Terem Moffi (Deniz Gül 59’), Borja Sainz (Pepê 59’)

Unused substitutes: Cláudio Ramos, João Costa, Dominik Prpić, Jakub Kiwior, Francisco Moura, Rodrigo Mora, Tiago Silva

Nottingham Forest (3-4-2-1) Stefan Ortega; Zach Abbott, Murillo (Nikola Milenkovic 46’), Morato; Dilane Bakwa (Neco Williams 60’), Ryan Yates, Nicolás Domínguez, Dan Ndoye; Morgan Gibbs-White (Omari Hutchinson 60’), James McAtee (Ibrahim Sangaré 74’); Chris Wood (Igor Jesus 46’)

Unused substitutes: Matz Sels, Neco Williams, Ola Aina, Jimmy Sinclair, Justin Hanks, Archie Whitehall, Lorenzo Lucca, Omari Hutchinson, Callum Hudson-Odoi