Extraordinary 40-yard own goal haunts Porto as Forest escape with a draw | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Porto in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tonight.

Forest will head into the second leg at the City Ground with a strong opportunity to reach their first European semi-final in more than four decades.

Porto made the brighter start at the Estadio do Dragao and quickly began to test the Forest defence.

The hosts created early chances through Terem Moffi and Borja Sainz, but Forest goalkeeper Stefan Ortega produced important saves to keep the scores level.

Porto opened the scoring after 11 minutes. William Gomes finished at the far post after meeting a diagonal ball into the area to give the home side the lead.

The goal reflected Porto’s early dominance as they controlled possession and pushed Forest back in the opening stages.

However, Forest were handed an unexpected route back into the match shortly afterwards. Porto defender Martim Fernandes inadvertently equalised for the visitors with an extraordinary own goal.

Attempting to play a routine back pass, Fernandes sent the ball rolling past his own goalkeeper from long range.

The misjudged pass caught goalkeeper Diogo Costa off guard and rolled into the empty net to bring Forest level.

The goal halted Porto’s early momentum and helped Forest settle into the contest.

Forest manager Vitor Pereira had made several changes to his starting line-up, including handing striker Chris Wood a return after a lengthy injury absence.

The visitors focused on remaining organised defensively while looking to manage the game’s tempo.

Porto continued to search for a second goal, particularly after the break. Gomes came close to restoring the hosts’ lead, but Ortega produced another important save.

Forest thought they had taken the lead in the second half via Igor Jesus, but the goal was ruled out following a foul on the Porto goalkeeper.

Porto pushed forward in the closing stages in search of a winner. However, Forest defended resolutely, and Ortega made another key stop to deny Gomes late in the match.

Forest now return to the City Ground knowing victory in the second leg would secure a place in the Europa League semi-finals.