Forest Secure Hard-Fought Draw Against Porto After Unlikely Own Goal

Nottingham Forest managed to hold Porto to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final, thanks in part to a bizarre own goal. The home team took an early lead when William Gomes scored at the far post, but their advantage was short-lived as Martim Fernandes scored an unfortunate own goal just two minutes later. Fernandes's attempted back pass to goalkeeper Diogo Costa had too much power and sailed past the stranded keeper, giving Forest the equalizer. Forest coach Vitor Pereira made several changes to his lineup, including a first start for striker Chris Wood after a nine-month injury layoff, and a switch to a three-man defense. Despite being largely outplayed, Forest managed to hold on for the draw, with the closest Porto came to retaking the lead being a well-struck shot by Gomes that was saved by Stefan Ortega. Forest may have even won the game if not for a disallowed goal by Igor Jesus, which was ruled out by the Video Assistant Referee for a foul on Costa. The result leaves the tie open ahead of the second leg at the City Ground, where Forest will look to advance to the semi-finals. Pereira expressed his satisfaction with the result, saying, 'A good result in my opinion. To face two competitions we need to play with everyone. The players that started today did good work.'