Forest was burning, but the firefighter arrived — Dyche’s dream start from the penalties

When your club is in crisis — call Sean Dyche. That’s a perfect way to describe the career of the brilliant English manager. He has rescued many clubs from the brink in the English league, and now his task is to do the same with Nottingham Forest, a former European champion. If the start is anything to go by, he seems set to succeed.

His team entered the match surrounded by tension and expectations, but in the end — thanks to penalties — they secured a priceless 2–0 victory over Porto.

The match in Nottingham couldn’t have started any livelier — it took only a few seconds for the first shot to come. Anderson found himself in space about 25 meters from goal and tried his luck, but his effort went just wide.

In the 15th minute, Callum Hudson-Odoi came close to opening the scoring when he cut in from the left and unleashed a powerful shot from 20 meters, only for Diogo Costa to produce an excellent save. Just a minute later, Odoi threatened again, dribbling through Porto’s defense before firing over the bar.

The breakthrough came in the 17th minute. Referee Petrescu pointed to the spot after Bednarek handled the ball inside the box. Morgan Gibbs-White stepped up confidently and converted the penalty, giving Nottingham Forest a 1–0 lead. The goal is HERE!

Porto’s best chance of the half came in the 38th minute, when Varela struck a fierce long-range shot from around 30 meters, but Matz Sels reacted brilliantly to keep Forest in front.

The second half saw plenty of drama inside Nottingham Forest’s box. In the 51st minute, Bednarek appeared to make amends for an earlier mistake by slotting the ball into the net to equalize 1–1. However, after a VAR review, it was ruled that Porto’s attacker, Samu, had been offside, and the goal was disallowed.

In the 67th minute, Porto threatened again when Veiga delivered a corner that seemed destined for goal, but Matz Sels was alert and, with a bit of help from the crossbar, kept Forest in the lead.

The decisive moment came in the 75th minute when Savona went down inside Porto’s box. The Romanian referee initially judged it as simulation and awarded a free kick to Nottingham, but after consulting VAR, he reversed his decision, confirming the penalty and canceling Savona’s yellow card. Gibbs-White stepped up to take the spot-kick but passed the ball to Igor Jesus, who calmly converted, giving Nottingham Forest a 2–0 lead. The goal is HERE!

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 3

Thursday

Braga - Crvena Zvezda 2-0 (1-0)

/Navarro 22, Dorgeles 72/

Brann - Rangers 3-0 (1-0)

/Kornvig 40, Sorensen 55, Jean Holm 79/

FCSB - Bologna 1-2 (0-2)

/Birligea 54 - Odgaard 9, Dallinga 12/

Fenerbahce - Stuttgart 1-0 (1-0)

/Akturkoglu 34 pen/

Genk - Betis 0-0

Go Ahead - Aston Villa 2-1 (1-1)

/Suray 42, Deijl 61 - Guessand 4/

Olympique Lyon - Basel 2-0 (1-0)

/Tolisso 3, Moreira 90/

Salzburg - Ferencvaros 2-3 (1-0)

/Baidoo 13, Vertessen 72 - Varga 50, Zachariassen 56, Bamidele 58/

Celta - Nice 2-1 (1-1)

/Aspas 2, Oppong 75 (og) - Ali Cho 16/

Celtic - Sturm 2-1 (0-1)

/Scales 61, Nygren 64 - Horvat 15/

Freiburg - Utrecht 2-0 (2-0)

/Suzuki 20, Grifo 45/

Lille - PAOK 3-4 (0-3)

/Andre 57, Igamane 68, 78 - Meite 18, Zivkovic 23, 74, Konstantelias 42/

Maccabi T. A. - Midtjylland 0-3 (0-1)

/Dju 44, 84, Billing 71/

Malmo - Dinamo Zagreb 1-1 (1-0)

/Lewicki 45+1 - Varela 90+6/

Nott. Forest - Porto 2-0 (1-0)

/Gibbs-White 19 pen, Jesus 77 pen/

Roma - Plzen 1-2 (0-2)

/Dybala 54 pen - Kwabena Adu 20, Souare 22/

Young Boys - Ludogorets 3-2 (1-1)

/Raveloson 45, Fassnacht 53, Bedia 63 pen - Stanic 26, Yordanov 90+2/

Feyenoord - Panathinaikos 3-1 (1-1)

/Read 45+2, Moussa 55, Larin 90 - Swiderski 18/