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