Nottingham Forest sealed their place in the Europa League last 16 Thursday evening, but they will have done little to ease the anxiety of their followers in the process. A 2-1 defeat to Fenerbahce at the City Ground left them level at 4-2 on aggregate, enough to progress, but only after a tense and sometimes cheeky comeback.
Pereira’s spin game sets the tone
Vitor Pereira arrived Nottingham Forest with a cushion of three goals already Premier League match against Brighton on the horizon. The temptation to rotate was understandable, but the manager’s decision to make six changes from the side that won 3-0 in Istanbul last week had consequences, and those consequences came quickly.
Fireworks, flares and a chaotic launch
Even before a ball had been kicked, the night descended into chaos. A few seconds after kick-off, Fenerbahce fans threw several fireworks onto the pitch, forcing a three-minute delay. Back Jair Cunha had to jump out of the way of incoming flares, while Neco Williams scrambled to clear another. Visiting defender Archie Brown himself found himself doing crowd control, physically carrying the pyrotechnics off the pitch and telling his own fans to calm down. It was a surreal and unnerving start, and things didn’t improve quickly for the hosts.
Akturkoglu strikes to give Fenerbahce a lifeline
With 22 minutes played, Fenerbahce exposed Forest’s unfamiliar defensive structure on the counter-attack, and Kerem Akturkoglu swept home to give the Turkish side a foothold in the equaliser. Suddenly, what seemed like a routine night felt a little less safe. The away side grew in belief, with Akturkoglu and Sidiki Cherif wasting chances that could have made the first half really uncomfortable for Forest.
The half-time whistle brought some relief, although Pereira was forced into drastic action – four substitutions in one go, introducing Callum Hudson-OdoiIgor Jesus, Ola Aina and Ibrahim Sangare. The manager later admitted it was “difficult” to make so many changes at once, and not something he liked. But the first 45 minutes had left him little choice.
If the interval had offered breathing room, it was quickly taken away. Seconds into the second half, Cunha found himself at the center of trouble again, this time clumsily catching Akturkoglu in the box. VAR confirmed the on-field penalty decision, and the Fenerbahce forward stepped up to convert his second goal of the night. It was now 3-2 on aggregate. The City Ground got nervous. The tie was alive.
Hudson-Odoi ends anxiety
What followed was a tense and unabashed period of possession for Forest, more notable for keeping the ball than threatening the opposition goal. Whistles rang out from the stands as patience wore thin. And then, just as the anxiety threatened to boil over, Forest answered.
The goal came from two of the substitutes at half-time combining with purpose. Aina sent in a cross from the right, and Hudson-Odoi, lurking on the left of the penalty area, controlled it, jumped over his marker and headed a confident shot into the far corner. It was his first European goal of the season and, perhaps most importantly, the goal that finally snuffed out Fenerbahce’s hopes of a miraculous comeback.
Pereira defends his decisions
An injury-hit visiting side that had only named five outfield players on their bench, with the likes of Ederson and Milan Skriniar among the absentees, had nothing to offer. The final whistle confirmed Forest’s progress, although the performance will give Pereira plenty to reflect on.
Speaking afterwards, the Portuguese coach was candid about the calculated bet he had made. Making six changes had disrupted the team’s rhythm and left players unaccustomed to 90 minutes of pushing in a pressured European game. He explicitly framed it as a sacrifice for the big picture, specifically, arriving in Brighton with legs fresh enough to compete in what he described as a very important Premier League game.
Hudson-Odoi was equally honest about the night’s shortcomings, admitting that Forest made things unnecessarily difficult for them. But the winger has also been measured from his perspective, pointing to the quality of the team’s response after falling further behind in the second half. Keeping the ball, pressing high and keeping calm under pressure, the hallmarks Pereira has been instilling, he finally said.
The numbers behind a nervous night
The stats surrounding the night make for interesting reading. Forest have now lost four consecutive home games in all competitions, an unprecedented run in Pereira’s managerial career. They have also suffered two home defeats in a single European campaign for the first time, having been beaten by FC Midtjylland earlier in the season. As for Fenerbahce, their victory at the City Ground represents only their second win on English soil in European competition, and their first since a famous Champions League triumph at Old Trafford in October 1996.
What comes next
Nottingham Forest are now in Friday’s last 16 draw, where they will know whether they will face Real Betis or FC Midtjylland in the next round. Hudson-Odoi’s message to those waiting for it was simple: the forest will be ready.
Whether the City Ground faithful will be ready for another evening like Thursday is far less certain.
