Nottingham Forest, managed by the Portuguese coach, surprises by getting the better of Unai Emery.
After eliminating FC Porto in the quarter-finals , Vítor Pereira started the first leg of the Europa League semi-finals on the right foot. At home against Aston Villa, coached by Unai Emery, the Portuguese manager’s Nottingham Forest won by the narrowest of margins ( 1-0 ).
In a very balanced game, the teams went to the locker rooms with no goals scored. Before the score changed for the first time, both goalkeepers shone on their respective sides.
Dibu” Martínez, a World Cup winner with Argentina, made an unbelievable save to deny Forest a goal. Then it was Ortega’s turn, the former Manchester City player, to use his reflexes to deny Watkins a goal.
The first = and only = goal of the match was scored from the penalty spot. A handball inside the area and the Portuguese referee João Pinheiro (with Tiago Martins as VAR) had no doubts = penalty against Aston Villa.
Chris Wood, the experienced 34-year-old forward, took responsibility and fired a shot into the home team’s goal (70m).
With this victory (1-0), Vítor Pereira achieves an important win, fueling the dream of reaching the final. Nottingham thus goes into the second leg with an advantage, which will be played next Thursday, May 7th, at Villa Park .