Forest edge Porto to secure Villa showdown in Europa League semis
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LONDON: An early Morgan Gibbs-White goal earned Nottingham Forest a 1-0 win over 10-man Porto to secure a 2-1 aggregate victory and set up an all-English Europa League semi-final against Aston Villa, who thrashed Bologna 4-0 to progress 7-1 on aggregate.
Elsewhere, SC Freiburg eliminated Celta Vigo to set up a semi-final clash with Braga, after the Portuguese side knocked out Real Betis.
Porto’s Jan Bednarek was sent off after eight minutes for a reckless challenge on Forest striker Chris Wood as the clash at the City Ground got off to a volatile start.
Gibbs-White capitalised four minutes later, scoring with a deflected strike before holding up an Elliot Anderson shirt in tribute. The midfielder was a late withdrawal from the match following the death of his mother.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Porto remained competitive as William Gomes struck the woodwork, but Forest held on to progress.
Playing in Europe for the first time since the 1995-96 UEFA Cup, Vitor Pereira’s Forest — 12 spots below fourth-placed Villa in the Premier League — will hope their Europa run provides a boost in their battle to avoid relegation.
“The club and the supporters deserve it. I have a fantastic team. They have the spirit, character and quality,” Pereira said. “It’s too much to think Villa now. I will think about it after Burnley this weekend.”
Meanwhile, Villa dominated Bologna at home, racing to a three-goal lead by halftime as Ollie Watkins, Emiliano Buendia, and Morgan Rogers all scored. Ezri Konsa added another late on to complete the rout.
Villa are into their second European semi-final under Emery after making the last four in the Conference League in 2024.
Europa League specialist Emery has won the tournament four times — three with Sevilla and one at Villarreal — and also finished as a runner-up with Arsenal.
“We needed to get the first goal, it was very important. They are a dangerous team away from home,” Villa captain John McGinn said. “A great first half gets us to a semi-final, I’m delighted.” In Seville, Braga staged a remarkable comeback from two goals down to defeat Betis 4-2 and secure a 5-3 aggregate victory.
The Portuguese side overturned early strikes from Betis’ Antony and Abde Ezzalzouli through Pau Victor, Vitor Carvalho, and a Ricardo Horta penalty, before Jean-Baptiste Gorby sealed Braga’s place in the semi-finals with a late goal.
They will face Freiburg, who reached their first-ever European semi-final earlier on Thursday, defeating Celta Vigo 3-1 in Spain to complete a 6-1 aggregate win.
Freiburg has scored 11 goals in its last three games in the second-tier competition.
Igor Matanovic put Freiburg 1-0 up with a stunning left-footed volley from outside the area. Yuito Suzuki doubled the advantage with a deflected shot late in the first half and then beat goalkeeper Ionut Radu after interval.Williot Swedberg’s consolation goal came in stoppage time for the Spanish hosts.
PALACE PROGRESS
In the Conference League on Thursday, Crystal Palace went down to a 2-1 defeat at Fiorentina but nonetheless progressed 4-2 on aggregate to the semi-finals, where they will meet Shakhtar Donetsk, ,who eliminated AZ Alkmaar 5-2 after a 2-2 draw earlier.
In Florence, Ismaila Sarr opened the scoring for Palace, before Albert Gudmundsson and Cher Ndour struck to give the Italian side hope.
It was a difficult night for Oliver Glasner’s side as a first defeat in six matches in all competitions was compounded by key men Adam Wharton and Maxence Lacroix both being forced off with knocks in the first half.
But most importantly the English club still remain in contention to add to their first ever major trophy, the FA Cup won last season, in their maiden European campaign.
“This is unbelievable for this football club, sensational when you think about the FA Cup last season and then to keep going and create a new chapter,” Palace captain Dean Henderson told TNT Sports.
“3-0 (first-leg lead) is a dangerous score and you don’t really know how it will go. We managed to get through, so who cares?”
Ahead of kick-off, the Stadio Artemio Franchi held a minute’s silence for goalkeeper Alex Manninger, who died earlier Thursday aged 48 after his car was struck by a train. The Austrian spent a loan spell at Fiorentina in 2001/02.
On the other side of the draw, Strasbourg pulled off a fine comeback to book their spot in the last four against Rayo Vallecano.
Strasbourg eased past Mainz 4-2 on aggregate, setting up a semi-final against Rayo Vallecano, who edged AEK Athens 4-3 overall.
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2026
