By OUR MAN AT THE DRAGAO
NOTTINGHAM FOREST are dreaming of European glory this morning after a moment of pure Portuguese madness handed them a precious 1-1 draw against Porto.
On a night where Nuno Espirito Santo’s side looked set to be swallowed whole by the Dragon’s roar, they were instead handed a lifeline by a backpass so bad it belonged on a Bloopers DVD.
The Tricky Trees were trailing to an early William Gomes strike and looked like they were in for a long night in the quarter-final first leg. But just two minutes after falling behind, the 50,000-strong home crowd was silenced by a piece of slapstick comedy that would make Laurel and Hardy blush.
Porto’s young right-back Martim Fernandes had the ball near the halfway line and, without looking, launched a blind 40-yard backpass toward his own goal.
Unfortunately for him, keeper Diogo Costa was out for a stroll on the edge of his box. The ball zipped past the stranded Portuguese No.1 and trickled agonizingly into the empty net. Martim slumped to his knees in horror—Forest fans in the gods couldn’t believe their luck.
The night was also a landmark for Forest legend Chris Wood, who made a shock return to the starting XI after six months out with injury. The big Kiwi didn’t get on the scoresheet, but his presence unsettled the Porto backline, including veteran Thiago Silva, who found himself in a real scrap with the Forest target man.
Forest keeper Stefan Ortega was the real hero at the other end, however. The former Man City man produced a string of world-class saves to keep the scores level as Porto piled on the pressure in the second half.
The hosts thought they’d snatched it late on when Igor Jesus bundled the ball home, but VAR spared Forest’s blushes after a foul on Ortega.
The 1-1 result means it’s advantage Forest heading back to a sold-out City Ground next Thursday. If Nuno’s men can finish the job on the banks of the Trent, a Europa League semi-final awaits.
PORTO: Costa, Fernandes (Pepe 19), Ze Pedro, Silva, Moura, Varela, Fofana, Veiga, Gomes, Galeno, Omorodion.
FOREST: Ortega, Williams, Milenkovic, Morato, Abbott, Yates, Dominguez, Gibbs-White, Ndoye, Wood, Bakwa.
