Chris Wood scored from the penalty spot to give Nottingham Forest a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa in the first leg of their all-English Europa League semifinal on Thursday.
In a matchup of two teams hoping to revive former European glory, the win at the City Ground puts Forest a step closer to what would be its first continental competition final in 46 years.
Wood fired his 71st-minute penalty high into the net, giving goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez no chance to save after defender Lucas Digne was whistled for handball.
“It’s nice to have the advantage but going to Villa Park will be a tough game,” the New Zealand striker told the TNT Sports. “But we’ve done the job here at home and now hopefully we’ll build into next week.”
Vítor Pereira’s team stretched its unbeaten run to nine games in all competitions. Forest visits Chelsea in the Premier League on Monday before the semifinal second leg in Birmingham next Thursday.
Forest is in a relegation fight – currently five points above the Premier League drop zone. The winner of the Europa League title earns a spot in next season’s Champions League. That could create a scenario in which Forest gets relegated to England’s second division but also plays in Europe’s top club competition.
Forest has returned to Europe after 30 years to reach its fourth semifinal, but first since the 1984 UEFA Cup. That was after Forest dominated the European Cup – the predecessor of the Champions League – and won the trophy in 1979 and 1980. Villa became the European champion two years later.
Villa sits fifth in the Premier League and stands a good chance of qualifying for the Champions League domestically.
Villa coach Unai Emery has won the Europa League title four times – three with Sevilla and one with Villarreal.
Braga beats Freiburg
In the other semifinal, Braga beat Freiburg 2-1 after substitute Mario Dorgeles netted the winner in second-half stoppage time in Portugal.
At 1-1, Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu denied Braga a golden opportunity to restore a lead by diving to his right to save a spot kick by Rodrigo Zalazar.
The Portuguese side hopes to advance to the final again after it lost to domestic rival Porto 1-0 in the 2011 title match.
The second legs are next Thursday and the final is in Istanbul on May 20.
Sarr scores early for Crystal Palace
In the third-tier Conference League, Ismaïla Sarr scored in the opening minute as Crystal Palace beat Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 in the opening leg of their semifinal.
Daichi Kamada and Jorgen Strand Larsen also scored for Palace after Oleh Ocheretko had equalized for Shakhtar.
The game was played in Krakow, Poland, because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The second leg is next Thursday in London.
Rayo Vallecano beat Strasbourg 1-0 in the Thursday’s other semifinal.
The final is on May 27 in Leipzig, Germany.
