Nottingham Forest have beaten Aston Villa 1-0 in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final.
A relatively chanceless first-half was lit up by a remarkable save from Emiliano Martinez from Igor Jesus in the 33rd minute. The second half was not an immediate improvement, although Morgan Rogers saw a shot saved by Stefan Ortega.
In the 67th minute, though, Lucas Digne appeared to handle the ball in the box from an Omari Hutchinson cross. The referee Joao Pinheiro initially did not give a foul as the officials believed the ball was out of play. However, after a video assistant referee check, the ball was judged to have remained on the pitch and a penalty was given. Chris Wood put away the spot kick in the 71st minute.
The two teams meet again next Thursday at Villa Park in the second leg of this game.
The Athletic’s Paul Taylor and Jacob Tanswell were there to analyse the key moments from the game.
Why did Lucas Digne give away the penalty?
Until the penalty, Emery would have been content with his side’s approach and how the game was unfolding. Villa were regularly progressing the ball into attack and full-backs in high areas. The City Ground was subdued, and Villa were largely stifling the hosts.
So it would have irked Emery that Lucas Digne needlessly conceded a penalty from a rather unnecessary position. A Forest cross bypassed Forest shirts in the box and appeared to be going out of play, only for Omari Hutchinson to wrap his right leg around the ball and keep it in play.
As a lot of goalkeepers and defenders have a habit of doing when they feel the ball is going out of play, Digne raised both arms. This meant that, to the left-back’s surprise, he was making himself bigger if the ball hit his arm.
Hutchinson kept the ball in play and deflected off Digne.
Despite the referee, Joao Pinheiro, waving protests away initially, he was asked to look at the incident by VAR and after two minutes, decided to award Forest a penalty. Chris Wood dispatched his strike from the spot emphatically and lifted the Forest crowd. It was a naive mistake from the experienced 32-year-old that put Villa on the back foot and shifted the momentum.
Jacob Tanswell
How amazing was Martinez’s save?
Emiliano Martinez’s experience at The City Ground is mixed to say the least. When Villa visited here earlier this month, he was injured in the warm-up. Three seasons ago, a shot straight at him fizzled through his hands.
Yet, between and after those low moments, the Argentina international has made two extraordinary saves.
Last season, Martinez somehow clawed out Nico Dominguez’s header, shuffling over and contorting his body to both spin around and keep the ball out. It left Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp asking if it was the best save ever.
More than a year on, Martinez produced a similar save in the first half at the City Ground. In a competitive, evenly matched first half, Igor Jesus had the best chance, with a cut-back cross finding the striker. Martinez, again, shuffled from the near post to the centre of the goal.
Quickly reacting to his left, Martinez’s left arm stayed strong and did not buckle, parrying the ball away from any red shirts and to safety.
Cries of “the world’s number 1” echoed from the away fans behind Martinez, with the goalkeeper, unsurprisingly given his nature, bathing in the adulation. It was critical to Villa’s approach that they kept the first half tight and Martinez, one of Villa’s difference-makers, produced a potential critical moment in the tie.
Jacob Tanswell
Did Forest’s line-up demonstrate Pereira’s outlook on the Europa League?
Forest still have work to do before they secure Premier League safety, but the 5-0 win at Sunderland last weekend was significant in more than one sense.
As well as giving Forest a little breathing space between themselves and the bottom three — they are five points clear — it gave Vitor Pereira the opportunity to put more priority on Europe.
His previous team selections in this competition had largely been made with one eye on what was coming next in the top flight as they fought for survival.
But, barring the lengthening injury list, Forest named as strong a team as they could have done against Villa.
Jair Cunha, Ibrahim Sangare and Dan Ndoye joined an injury list that already included Callum Hudson-Odoi, Murillo and Nicolo Savona.
But beyond those missing, Pereira did not hold any of his players back ahead of the trip to face Chelsea in the Premier League on Monday.
By the time that game comes around, if West Ham can beat Brentford on Saturday and if Tottenham can find a way to win at Villa on Sunday, the gap between Forest and the bottom three could be reduced to what would be a nervy two points, before they play in London.
But Pereira demonstrated his intent not to let the opportunity of securing a place in a third major European final slip from Forest’s grasp without giving it their best shot in the first leg at the City Ground.
Paul Taylor
How much responsibility can Chris Wood take for the position Forest find themselves in?
Chris Wood was one of the chief reasons why Nottingham Forest found themselves playing in the Europa League this season — his 20 goals were integral to Nuno Espirito Santo’s side claiming seventh place.
A serious knee injury had left him on the sidelines between October and April.
But having netted one of the five goals in the morale-boosting win over Sunderland, his first Premier League goal since returning, he followed up with his first European goal since the 3-2 defeat to Midtjylland in October.
Given Martinez’s heroics earlier in the game, Wood showed confidence and composure to beat the Villa goalkeeper with a penalty sent arrowing high into the top left corner.
It marked his 200th career goal — and Forest will hope it ultimately proves to be one of the most important he has scored since he joined from Newcastle in January 2023.
Paul Taylor
What next for Nottingham Forest?
Nottingham Forest travel to Chelsea in the Premier League on Monday, May 4 (3pm BST, 10am ET).
What next for Aston Villa?
Aston Villa host Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday, May 3 (7pm BST, 2pm ET).
