Nottingham Forest Secure Hard-Fought Draw Against Porto After Unusual Own Goal

Nottingham Forest's Europa League quarter-final tie with Porto is delicately poised after a 1-1 draw in the first leg, with the English side earning a valuable away point thanks to a bizarre own goal. Porto started strongly and took the lead when William Gomes tapped in at the far post, but their advantage lasted just two minutes. Martim Fernandes attempted a back pass to his goalkeeper, Diogo Costa, but got too much power on the ball, which zipped past the stranded keeper and into the net. Forest manager Vitor Pereira, who was honoured before the game for his achievements with Porto, made several changes to his side with a crucial Premier League match against Aston Villa looming. Striker Chris Wood made his first start in nine months, while the visitors also switched to a three-man defence. Despite being outplayed for much of the game, Forest managed to contain Porto and even had a goal ruled out by the Video Assistant Referee in the second half. The home side came close to retaking the lead on several occasions, but Forest goalkeeper Stefan Ortega made a crucial save to deny Gomes, and substitute Victor Froholdt was inches away from finding the far corner late on. Pereira was satisfied 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. In the end, 1-1, the game is open to play at home and decide qualification.' Forest will now look to build on this result and secure a place in the semi-finals when they host Porto at the City Ground next Thursday.