Wood punishes Digne blunder as Forest earn Europa semi-final lead against Villa
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NOTTINGHAM: Nottingham Forest seized the advantage in their Europa League semi-final against Aston Villa as Chris Wood’s penalty sealed a 1-0 win in the first leg on Thursday.
Wood netted from the spot in the second half after a needless handball by Villa defender Lucas Digne in the all-English clash at the City Ground.
The New Zealand striker’s fifth goal of an injury-plagued season moved Forest within touching distance of their first European final since 1980.
Vitor Pereira’s side are on a nine-match unbeaten run in all competitions, carrying them five points clear of the Premier League relegation zone and to the brink of the Europa showpiece.
Forest will make the 50-mile trip to Villa Park for the second leg on May 7, with the winners facing Braga or Freiburg in the final in Istanbul on May 20.
Braga won 2-1 in the other semi-final first leg on Thursday.
“It’s nice to have the advantage but going to Villa Park will be a tough game. They’re good at their place,” Wood said. “It’s small moments that can potentially change games. Thankfully it went in our favour tonight.”
Making it to Istanbul would be a dramatic finale to Forest’s soap-opera season, featuring four managers and a tense relegation battle.
After the sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou and Sean Dyche, Pereira had led Forest to their first European semi-final since losing against Anderlecht in the 1983-84 UEFA Cup.
Crowned European champions in 1979 and 1980 in their golden era under Brian Clough, Forest have been starved of success over the last three decades.
Villa threatened in the frantic early stages but Forest keeper Stefan Ortega kept the scores level as he made two great saves to deny Youri Tielemans and Morgan Rogers.
Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson escaped a red card for his ugly tackle on Watkins and the hosts gradually found their stride after the early Villa assault.
Villa coach Unai Emery was scathing in his criticism of the VAR decisions, taking issue with a tackle by Anderson.
“It’s a clear red card — I don’t understand why the VAR is not calling the referee because it’s so clear,” Emery said.
“And it’s very, very important. It’s a huge, huge mistake. VAR is responsible.
“He could’ve broke his ankle. Wow, VAR — where are you? Please. It is your responsibility, we are professionals. You are doing very bad work because it was so clear for everybody.”
On the other hand Emiliano Martinez also pulled off a brilliant one-handed stop when Igor Jesus fired a shot from close range.
Watkins missed a golden opportunity early in the second half but Forest finally broke the deadlock in the 71st minute.
Omari Hutchinson chased an overhit cross and hooked it back in play just before the ball crossed the byline, with Digne foolishly sticking his arm up to block it.
A VAR check confirmed the ball hadn’t gone out of play and Wood stepped up to lash the penalty past Martinez.
The City Ground was rocking and Emery immediately hauled off the hapless Digne, sending on Jadon Sancho, Douglas Luiz and Ian Maatsen.
But Forest held firm to secure a victory that took them to the verge of an historic achievement.
In the other last-four fixture, Braga will take a slender advantage to Germany for the return leg after Mario Dorgeles scored in injury-time to give the hosts a narrow win over Freiburg.
Demir Ege Tiknaz opened the scoring early for the hosts, before Vincenzo Grifo quickly levelled for Freiburg.
Braga was awarded a penalty at the end of the first half but German shot-stopper Noah Atubolu saved Rodrigo Zalazar effort to keep the scores level.
The breakthrough came for Braga two minutes into added time as Atubolu spilled Vitor Carvalho’s effort and Dorgeles was on hand to squeeze the ball home from close range.
PALACE CLOSE IN ON CONFERENCE LEAGUE FINAL
In the Conference League semis, Crystal Palace took a giant step towards the final in their first season of European football with a 3-1 semi-final first leg win over Shakhtar Donetsk while Rayo Vallecano earned a 1-0 win over visiting Strasbourg.
Ismaila Sarr gave Palace the lead before Oleh Ocheretko slotted home the equaliser from close range after Palace failed to clear a corner.
But Daichi Kamada and Jorgen Strand Larsen second half strikes put the Eagles in command of the tie despite a spirited performance from the Ukrainian league leaders.
“It’s a nice half-time lead, but not more,” said Palace manager Oliver Glasner. “It was a huge impact from the bench. So overall we’re very pleased with the performance, but it’s just the first step.”
Prior to shocking Manchester City in last season’s FA Cup final, Palace had never won a major trophy in their history.
Meanwhile, Brazilian striker Alemao glanced in the only goal to give Rayo a precious win in front of a a raucous crowd at their 15,000-capacity Vallecas Stadium in Madrid
“We practised the move we wanted to pull off. I was lucky enough to score the goal,” said Alemao.
Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2026
