Nottingham Forest 2-0 Porto: Forest return to winning ways in Dyche debut | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest won at the City Ground for the first time in two months, with penalty goals from Morgan Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus resulting in victory for Sean Dyche in the manager’s first game in charge.

As it happened

Following the sacking of Nuno Espírito Santo, Nottingham Forest have undergone a tumultuous few months. Ange Postecoglu proved to be a disaster and their failings in the Premier League and Europe saw the Tricky Trees slump to the lower echelons of both competitions.

Postecoglu was sacked after just 39 days and replaced by Dyche, who was thrown into the deep end as his first game in charge was against European regulars Porto. The former Burnley and Everton boss needed a quick result to dampen the cynicism that had been circling the club.

Forest started with intent. Gibbs-White and Callum Hudson-Odoi provided early problems for a Porto side in incredible form: they were unbeaten in all of their 11 games so far this season, with manager Francesco Farioli masterminding a revolution for the Portuguese giants. In this game, though, they looked second best throughout the first half.

Despite the early pressure, Forest needed a goal to settle any nerves, and they got the break they needed 20 minutes into the game when they were awarded a penalty courtesy of a handball from defender Jan Bednarek. Gibbs-White scored the subsequent spot-kick to give Dyche an ideal early start.

Forest looked more comfortable and compact already than at times during Postecoglou’s reign and were nearly rewarded again when Hudson-Odoi stung the gloves of goalkeeper Diogo Costa.

They were also resilient at the back when they needed to be; Mats Selz had to make a smart save from Alan Varela after the midfielder blasted a 25-yard effort. Forest never looked in too much danger following the restart, though Porto did briefly level up only for a Bednarek header to be ruled out thanks to striker Samu’s offside position.

Despite largely smooth sailing in the second half, Forest had to count on good fortune once again as referee Radu Petrescu awarded the home side a penalty following a consultation with VAR. The referee had initially given a foul for diving and booked forest forward Nicolo Savona for diving over Matrim Fernandes. Once the referee changed his mind, Forest forward Jesus converted the spot kick to keep all three points at the City Ground for the first time in months.

The result will give so much confidence to a depleted Forest side, whereas Farioli’s Porto have suffered their first defeat of the season following an incredible start.

The line-ups

NFO: Selz; Williams, Milenković, Murillo, Zinchenko; Anderson, Luiz; Ndoye, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Jesus