Chris Wood’s flawless penalty proved decisive as Nottingham Forest beat Aston Villa 1-0 in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final at the City Ground. The goal came after Lucas Digne naively raised both hands to block Morgan Gibbs-White’s cross, a moment of madness that referee João Pinheiro correctly punished with a spot-kick after reviewing whether the ball had gone out of play.
Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez had earlier made a stunning save to deny Igor Jesus, scrambling across his line to keep out what seemed a certain goal. But Martínez was unable to reach Wood’s penalty and could not prevent Forest from taking a narrow lead into the return leg at Villa Park next week.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery had no complaints about the penalty decision but expressed anger that Elliot Anderson escaped a red card for a poor first-half tackle on Ollie Watkins. Villa’s director of football, Damian Vidagany, called the situation “unfair” in a social media post and vowed an attacking response in the second leg: “At Villa Park will be our time. Match of our lives.”
Villa were dealt a further blow when midfielder Amadou Onana was forced off early in the second half with a hamstring problem, having only just returned from a knee injury. The visitors had chances through Ollie Watkins, whose deflected effort was saved by Stefan Ortega, but Forest held firm for a vital victory.
