Nottingham Forest 1-0 Aston Villa

Wood 71' (Pen)                           

Two European giants; Villa won their European cup in 1982 whilst Forest won consecutive ones in 1979 and 1980. There’s been some brilliant games between these two in recent years but now it’s time for them to face off on the biggest stage: a major European semi-final. The first all English tie at this stage since United and Arsenal in 08/09.

Forest’s last major European semi-final was back in 1984 when they faced Anderlecht. Villa’s last one was much more recent, just two years ago when they faced Marinakis’ other team, Olympiacos, in the Conference League. The Reds have hit form at just the right time as they are undefeated in their last eight games. This run includes both legs of the quarter-final against Porto, with Forest winning 2-1 on aggregate to set up this tie. After struggling to hit the back of the net all season, they have scored a huge nine goals in their last two matches. At the other end of the table, Villa look set to qualify for the Champions League. They are also on a good run of form only losing one in their last seven, which came last Premier League match week at Craven Cottage.  They flew into the last four after beating Italian side, Bologna, 7-1 across two legs. This extended their run to nine consecutive wins in the Europa League.

In their last game, Forest thrashed Sunderland 5-0 at the Stadium of light. Vitor Pereira made three changes from this game as his side have been hit with injuries to both Sangare and Cunha, meaning Morato and Dominguez were their replacements. This left the Forest bench full of youth and inexperience, something that might be a problem if things didn’t go the Reds way. Emery made one change from their 1-0 defeat at Fulham as Onana returned from injury, coming in for Bogarde. These two played this exact fixture in the league just over two weeks ago when the result was 1-1. This extended the Reds unbeaten run at home to Villa to four games. Forest lost at home to both Midtjylland and Fenerbahce in this Europa League campaign but they would need a win to feel more confident heading to Villa Park next week. Who would take the advantage heading to Birmingham?

After a brilliant display from Forza Garibaldi, remembering our great history, and a deafening Mull of Kintyre, we were under way. It was the visitors who started the game on the front foot, creating an early chance; Forest didn’t help themselves after losing the ball in midfield. Buendia found Rogers on the edge of the box but the Englishman had his back towards goal. He passed back to Tielemans who took a touch before firing towards goal from 25 yards out. No red shirt came out to meet him so Ortega was forced to parry it out for a corner.

Although the opening minutes were controlled by Villa, Forest got their foothold on the games, reacting to the atmosphere their supporters were creating. They were playing some lovely football but had no goal to show for it. After Anderson’s effort flew over, Villa turned defence into attack, breaking quickly. The move ended with Watkins finding Rogers to his right and the latter trying to curl it into the bottom left corner. Luckily for the Reds, Ortega got down well to make parry it away with an outstretched hand.

Now, it was time for Martinez to make a save. However, this one wasn’t like any of Ortega’s reasonably comfortable saves; this one was unbelievable! Neco Williams cut inside from the left before passing to Anderson who was making a run to the edge of the ‘D’. Tielemans rushed out to meet Anderson, forcing him to think quickly. He decided to chip a ball to Gibbs-White who was making an unmarked run down the left of the box. He put the ball back into the danger area first time where Jesus was waiting. He hit the ball on a side footed volley which looked to be heading in but Martinez was alert. He saved the initial effort with an outstretched arm but it still seemed to be bouncing in. The Argentinian was having none of it, turning around and using his other arm to claw it off the line before falling onto the ball.

This game was turning into the story of the two goalkeepers, with both reacting to any danger fired their way. McGinn found Rogers in the box before the latter found an unmarked Watkins on the six yard box. He poked it towards goal first time but Ortega stood tall to make the save.

Every neutral tuning into this game would’ve been satisfied with what they were watching. The tempo was high, the atmosphere was electric and both teams were giving it a go. There was drama to add too. From the left, Gibbs-White whipped a ball into the box which evaded Wood in the six yard box. It looked to be going out of play but Hutchinson just kept it in, trying to get it back into the danger area. As he did, the ball struck the arm of Digne which was well above his head. The referee deemed the ball to be out of play but after a VAR check which told him it stayed in, he was sent to the monitor to make a decision. Digne had no argument with his arm that high and the referee awarded a penalty.

Wood took his run up before unleashing it into the top left corner, leaving Martinez with no chance. This sent the City Ground into delirium. Villa had no response and Forest did well to see the game out, meaning they take the advantage to Villa Park.

Wow, what a game! We played really well in both areas of the pitch. We needed to take a lead to Birmingham to have a better chance and we managed to do that. Although, I would’ve liked to have taken more due to our recent record there. The atmosphere was back to its best after being pretty poor this season and I think the players really thrived off of that. My plaudits go to Dominguez who put in a real shift and I think he covered the whole pitch. They also go to Hutchinson who was very key to creating our best chances and he looked much more himself. We move onto a key game against Chelsea in the league so we need to keep this momentum going.

Forest: Ortega; Williams, Morato, Milenkovic, Aina (Abbott 75’); Anderson, Dominguez; Gibbs-White, Jesus (Yates 90’), Hutchinson; Wood

Aston Villa: Martinez; Digne (Maatsen 79’), Torres, Konsa, Cash; Tielemans, Onana (Bogarde 55’); Buendia (Sancho 79’), Rogers, McGinn (Douglas Luiz 78’); Watkins