Porto 1-1 Nottingham Forest: Pereira battles to quarter final first leg draw against old club | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Porto to leave their Europa League quarter-final tie finely poised ahead of the second leg at the City Ground.

After an unpromising start that led to William Gomes scoring the early breakthrough with a well-timed run at the back post, Forest were gifted a leveller, courtesy of Martim Fernandes’ calamitous own-goal moments later.

Forest gained their composure, managing the game with the ball, and withstood Porto’s pursuit of a lead as the hosts racked up 16 attempts on goal.

As it Happened

Forest were caught napping inside the first minute when they were carved open by the lively Portuguese league leaders.

Borja Sainz released Gomes to slip in Porto’s January loan signing from Nice, Terem Moffi, who lacked conviction in front of goal as Stefan Ortega got down sharply to his right.

The unsteady Forest defence were further unsettled when Gabriel Veiga flicked the ball into the path of Sainz for another shot straight down the throat of Ortega.

The visitors remained porous and Porto punished the gaps appearing in their opposition’s defence. They made their growing confidence count through Gomes, who sneaked in at the back post to meet Veiga’s cross, and he notched his fourth goal in five games.

Forest were unassured with their back three exposed from the start, and Francisco Farioli’s men seemed comfortable to preserve their lead until a bizarre own-goal restored parity fortuitously for the Tricky Trees two minutes later.

Porto’s right-back Fernandes sent an overcooked back pass from just inside his own half into his own net, as goalkeeper Diogo Costa was left stranded and unable to scramble back to stop the ball in its tracks.

To make matters worse, Fernandes was forced off injured minutes later, after Dan Ndoye landed on his ankle, and he was replaced by Portuguese compatriot Alberto Costa.

The self-inflicted equaliser ignited some faith among the Nottingham Forest ranks, who started to find their feet and commanded a greater proportion of possession with Porto retreating.

Although Porto keeper Costa was rarely called upon, the relegation-threatened Premier League side assuaged their early instability and reduced Porto’s clear-cut attempts, with a late exception at the end of the half.

Fofana clipped an inviting cross to striker Moffi, and in a similar fashion to his first tame sighter, Ortega stood firm from close range by anticipating where Moffi would place his effort.

With former Porto manager Vitor Pereira having one eye on domestic duties to scrape top flight survival, the returning Chris Wood was taken out for the Europa League’s joint top-scorer Igor Jesus, and Murillo made way for defensive partner Nikola Milenkovic at half-time.

Goalscorer Gomes made a darting run inside from the right and dragged his effort wide, bidding to swing the momentum in his side’s favour.

Forest conjured some flurries of promise in front of goal, though. It opened up centrally for James McAtee with Morgan Gibbs-White momentarily vacating his preferred area, and he unleashed a fierce effort to finally sting the palms of Costa.

Substitute Omari Hutchinson presented an awkward situation for Costa, dinking a ball towards the Porto goalkeeper with Jesus contesting aggressively.

The Dragons’ defenders were rooted, awaiting the referee’s whistle to award a foul. That didn’t come, and Jesus turned to fire into the open net, but the VAR review chalked off the goal.

Ortega denied Gomes with an outstretched right glove, and Turkish international Deniz Gul blazed his effort over. Porto were knocking on the door.

Pepe pulled off an audacious back heel facing away from goal to find another midfielder making a run beyond the Forest back line. Victor Froholdt’s angle worked against him and the 20-year-old’s shot flashed past the post.

Alan Varela’s cross was headed towards goal by Thiago Silva into the gloves of Ortega in the final action. So, nothing to split the sides in Portugal, who collide at the City Ground in the second leg all square next Thursday for a spot in the Europa League semi-finals.

Forest face fellow Europa League contenders Aston Villa at home on Sunday afternoon, hoping to rescue their vulnerable Premier League status against a side they may also meet in the semi-finals in Europe.