Ten-man Porto tumble out of Europa League after being beaten 1-0 by Nottingham Forest | OneFootball

Seko Fofana and Nicolas Dominguez fight for the ball (Photo: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

FC Porto’s European aspirations this season are over after the Dragons were beaten 1-0 by Nottingham Forest at a vibrant City Ground to lose the tie 2-1 on aggregate.

A nightmare start saw Porto a man down and a goal down by the 12th minute.

Jan Bednarek received a straight red card for a badly mistimed tackle on Chris Wood and soon afterwards Morgan Gibbs-White’s shot took a wicked deflection and flew into the net.

The hosts completely dominated the rest of the first half but Porto fought back bravely after the break and were clean out of luck as both William Gomes and Alan Varela saw efforts beat the goalkeeper but crash back into play off the bar. Tom Kundert reports from Nottingham.

Former European champions lock horns

The famous old ground was a fitting setting for two two-time European champions nowadays on a quest to recapture former glories.

As has happened throughout the season, Porto coach Francesco Farioli was not afraid to heavily rotate his team, six different starters selected in comparison to the 3-1 victory over Estoril on Sunday evening.

The hosts were dealt a blow before kick-off with the news of the passing of star player Elliot Anderson’s mother, the midfielder out of the matchday squad.

Porto started brightly, an excellent pass by Alberto Costa presenting Terem Moffi with an early sighter at goal but the striker could not put enough purchase on his effort to dink the ball over goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.

Bednarek sees red

Porto’s confident start was stopped in its tracks when Bednarek clattered into Chris Wood’s left with his studs and when the referee was called to the monitor to view the incident the outcome was inevitable. A straight red card for the Polish defender.

Things quickly went from bad to worse for Porto. Alberto Costa lost the ball in midfield, Gibbs-White raced through the middle and his shot took a deflection off the now makeshift centre-back Pablo Rosário, leaving Diogo Costa completely wrong-footed and the ball in the back of the net.

The home fans packed into the stadium had been boisterous from the off and the double whammy for the visitors had them bouncing in the stands as a tremendous atmosphere reverberated around the stadium.

The rest of the first half was one-way traffic as Forest looked to hammer home the advantage against a Porto side struggling to reorganise themselves.

Nicolás Domínguez, Igor Jesus (who had meantime replaced the injured Woods), and Murillo twice all went close.

All change at half time

Farioli recognised drastic action was required if Porto were to get back into the game and he duly made four changes at the break. Jakub Kiwior, Francisco Moura, Alan Varela and Victor Froholdt entered the fray with Gabri Veiga, Zaidu, Alberto Costa and Borja Sainz making way.

Porto immediately improved, the Portuguese side enjoying longer spells of possession and at last making inroads into Forest’s defensive third.

Nevertheless, the home team were always dangerous on the break, and a fine team move resulted in Aina pulling the ball back for Igor Jesus, with Diogo Costa making a brilliant save to keep his side in the tie.

Bar denies Porto – twice!

Porto’s sizeable contingent of fans refused to give up hope, helping maintain an exhilarating atmosphere, and they so nearly were celebrating in the 57th minute. Fofana picked out William Gomes with an inviting and the Brazilian adjusted his feet well to hit a first-time volley from a tight angle onto the underside of the bar and out.

Forest continued to look the more likely to score though, Igor Jesus denied by another superb Diogo Costa save, but Porto refused to throw in the towel.

In the 84th minute the Blue and Whites were left cursing their luck again as a sustained spell of pressure saw the ball played to Alan Varela, who hit a spectacular shot from 25 yards out that smashed against the bar.

To Forest’s and Vítor Pereira’s credit, the home team never reverted to solely defence and ended the game strongly, almost scoring a second deflected goal as Igor Jesus’ effort looped off a Porto defender and onto the top of the bar.

The home team ended up the game winding down the clock near the corner flag, with the referee’s final whistle triggering huge celebrations for Vítor Pereira and his team and the local fans.

Analysis: freakish incidents prove decisive

After watching the first 12 minutes of the first leg of this Europa League quarter-final it appeared there would only be one winner. Porto could have scored three goals in that period at the Estádio do Dragão and duly took the lead, and appeared the vastly superior team.

But their momentum was firmly stopped in its tracks by Martim Fernandes’ crazy own goal.

In the second leg Porto again started brightly, but Bednarek’s challenge – reckless rather than malicious – was undoubtedly worthy of a red card, and with the Forest goal coming shortly afterwards, it was a double blow that Porto could not recover from.

“I’m so proud of my players for the spirit they showed,” said Fariolo post-match.

The Dragons will feel it is a missed opportunity but the Primeira Liga leaders will now focus on trying to get over the line to win their first Portuguese championship in four years.

Nottingham Forest: Stefan Ortega, Jair Cunha, Murillo (Morato, 71’), Neco Williams, Ola Aina, Ibrahim Sangaré, Morgan Gibbs-White, Nicolás Domínguez, Dan Ndoye (Nikola Milenkovic, 65’), Omari Hutchinson (Callum Hudson-Odoi, 46’ (Dilane Bakwa, 71’)), Chris Wood (Igor Jesus, 16’)

FC Porto: Diogo Costa, Alberto Costa (Jakub Kiwior, 46’), Thiago Silva, Jan Bednarek, Zaidu Sanusi (Francisco Moura, 46’), Pablo Rosario, Gabri Veiga (Alan Varela, 46’), Seko Fofana, William Gomes, Terem Moffi (Deniz Gül, 65’), Borja Sainz (Victor Froholdt, 46’)