Nottingham Forest 1-0 Porto (2-1 agg): Gibbs-White 12
The final whistle blew at last and then Nottingham Forest supporters could breathe. A 1-0 second-leg win over Porto, 2-1 on aggregate, means that Forest have passed the toughest of quarter-final tests and now advance to the Europa League last eight.
The result sets up an all-English tie against Aston Villa. After a painful, painful season the fog is slowly lifting. The night is brightening. Forest now not only have hope that they can fight off relegation, but also that they can win their first European trophy since 1980 in the days of the great Brian Clough.
Porto started brightly, just as they did in the first leg, but the City Ground had cause for hope after the match turned in the eighth minute, Porto defender Jan Bednarek receiving a straight red card for a high boot that caught Forest striker Chris Wood in the right knee. Wood, who had only recently returned from a six-month layoff, continued briefly but was substituted in the 17th minute.
Forest capitalised on the numerical advantage and went in front four minutes later, after Morgan Gibbs-White drove into the penalty area and struck a shot from 20 yards. The ball deflected off Porto’s Pablo Rosario, wrong-footing goalkeeper Diogo Costa. It would be the only goal of the night.
While celebrating, Gibbs-White displayed Forest’s No 8 shirt, dedicated to teammate Elliot Anderson who was absent due to the death of his mother.
Despite playing 82 minutes with 10 men, Porto put in a good account of themselves and twice hit the crossbar. William Gomes pinged the woodwork from close range just before the hour, and Alan Varela was also unlucky after hitting from distance with six minutes remaining. Forest managed to hold on.
