There was a sheepish look on Lucas Digne’s face and for the referee, João Pinheiro, it was a case of reviewing whether the ball was out of play and not if the Aston Villa defender had handled inside the box. Even Digne would not dispute that bit. Digne naively raised both hands after Omari Hutchinson refused to deem Morgan Gibbs-White’s cross a lost cause and Nottingham Forest were presented with a chance to strike the first blow in this Europa League semi-final.
Just how damaging might Digne’s moment of madness prove? Chris Wood punished Villa from 12 yards, his penalty flawless. Unai Emery tried to gesture for calm as Forest’s support went berserk and their players moseyed back towards their half but afterwards the Villa manager expressed his anger at Elliot Anderson escaping a red card for a poor first-half tackle on Ollie Watkins.
For so long, it seemed Emiliano Martínez would be Villa’s hero, his improbable save to prevent Igor Jesus scoring a first-half opener rivalling his stop to deny Nicolás Domínguez here last season, one that earned him the Premier League’s save of the season. Martínez could not get his right hand to Wood’s penalty and by the end there were olés from the locals as Anderson and Gibbs-White exchanged passes down the flank. For Villa, who host Tottenham on Sunday, it could be a long week before these sides renew their battle on Thursday.
Martínez appeared close to tears as he slowly trudged off the pitch and for Villa it was a night when the big decisions generally left a sour taste. In a message posted on social media, Damian Vidagany, Villa’s director of football and Emery’s right-hand man, said Villa faced an “unfair situation” and vowed they will attack the return leg: “At Villa Park will be our time. Match of our lives.”
Emery had no qualms over the penalty, but was the ball categorically in play? Forest may sympathise given Sean Dyche fumed at the referee, Darren England, for awarding a corner that led to Manchester United scoring here in November, despite Nicolò Savona appearing to prevent the ball from going out of play. Under current laws, the video assistant referee cannot review decisions that involve awarding a corner instead of a goal-kick, even if the corner leads to a goal.
The City Ground was bathed in a warm glow before kick-off and once things got under way a hot atmosphere was guaranteed given this was a contest between Midlands rivals and favourites to lift the trophy. A generation of supporters from both teams crave a major trophy and, after this, that reality is just two games away. For Emery, a record fifth Europa League title has long been the target while Evangelos Marinakis, Forest’s ambitious owner, begun this season adamant the squad could go deep into the competition.
For Villa, there was a major boost when Amadou Onana was passed fit after a knee problem to start alongside Youri Tielemans at the base of midfield in place of Lamare Bogarde, but he was forced off early in the second half with a hamstring problem. After an anxious start, this quickly became into a frenetic game. Ezri Konsa made a smart block to thwart Igor Jesus, who supported Wood in attack, and Emiliano Buendía then headed away under pressure. Anderson was overzealous in the challenge on Watkins and was fortunate to escape punishment for catching the England striker on his ankle before claiming the ball.
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Braga take step towards final
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Braga will take a slender advantage to Germany for the return leg of their Europa League semi-final after Mario Dorgeles scored in stoppage time to give the hosts a 2-1 win over Freiburg in the first leg.
Demir Ege Tiknaz opened the scoring early for the hosts, before Vincenzo Grifo quickly levelled for Freiburg.
Despite being forced into numerous changes due to injuries, Carlos Vicens’ Braga made a roaring start in their first European semi-final for 15 years. Turkey midfielder Tiknaz slid in to finish from close range on eight minutes at their Estadio Municipal.
The lead only lasted eight minutes as Freiburg playmaker Grifo applied a cool finish to Jan-Niklas Beste’s pinpoint cross.
After a frantic opening quarter-hour, the match calmed down until one minute before the interval as VAR intervened to award a penalty to Braga after Philipp Lienhart fouled Gustaf Lagerbielke.
However, German shotstopper Noah Atubolu plunged to his right to tip Rodrigo Zalazar’s effort from 12 yards to safety. Braga boss Vicens made attacking changes in the second period.
The breakthrough came for Braga two minutes into added time as Atubolu spilled Vitor Carvalho’s effort and Dorgeles was on hand to squeeze the ball home from close range.
The winners will meet either Nottingham Forest or Aston Villa in the final on 20 May in Istanbul. Forest won the first leg of the clash between the two Premier League rivals 1-0. AFP
The moment of the first half was undeniably Martínez’s superb stop to prevent the hosts seizing the lead on 33 minutes. Anderson played a wonderful dinked pass behind the Villa back line for Gibbs-White, who squared the ball. Igor Jesus attempted a side-foot finish and while the ball ultimately came off his calf, it seemed impossible that it would be insufficient to beat Martínez. But the Argentina goalkeeper scrambled across his goalline to keep the ball out, eventually smothering it as Igor Jesus shook his head in disbelief.
Emery predicted a “long game”, in other words a tight contest, and things were finely balanced when the Villa manager was forced into a change nine minutes into the second half. Villa went closest to seizing the lead after the break, Stefan Ortega making an instinctive save to deny Watkins after he tried to divert Morgan Rogers’ curled shot goalwards. Ortega repelled the ball with his forearm.
Forest’s threat had subsided until Digne’s error. Gibbs-White’s cross from the left was bouncing out of play, or so Digne thought, but a game Hutchinson refused to give up on it. The winger crossed from the byline and Digne raised both hands, expecting a goal-kick to follow. Then the video assistant referee, Tiago Martins, encouraged the referee to review the incident on the pitchside VAR monitor. Once the penalty was awarded, Wood hammered the spot-kick past Martínez to give Forest a potentially priceless advantage.
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