Nottingham Forest were booed off as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Braga after an incredible 54-second spell in which Morgan Gibbs-White had a penalty saved and Ryan Yates scored an own goal.
The result means Nottingham Forest’s chances of a top-eight Europa League finish have been left to chance ahead of their final fixture against Ferencvaros, with Sean Dyche’s side three points off the top eight. Elliot Anderson will miss that must-win game after earning a late red card for dissent in Portugal.
Braga had to do very little to win the game, not even needing a single shot on target to get over the line, while Forest became only the second Europa League side to miss a penalty, score an own goal and have a player sent off in the same game.
When James McAtee was hauled to the ground in the area by Gabri Martinez, Forest had the opportunity to help everyone forget a tepid first half that only had one shot on target.
Ironically, that one shot came from Gibbs-White, who watched Lukas Hornicek save his free kick. The Braga ‘keeper would do the same in the second half, guessing right to save a poor penalty.
In a flash, Braga swept up the other end with Ricardo Horta combining with Fran Navarro. Horta crossed into the area and Yates, who couldn’t find his footing, dragged the ball past his own goal line.
With Forest huffing and puffing, Dyche’s decision to make seven changes – just as he did in his side’s FA Cup defeat at Wrexham – would come under question once more. However, Forest’s lack of No 9 was telling with Igor Jesus and Chris Wood injured, while Taiwo Awoniyi is not registered for the competition.
Callum Hudson-Odoi and Neco Williams would join Anderson in a triple change that did help lift Forest but their improvement wasn’t sufficient.
While there was another late shout for a penalty with Dan Ndoye shown a yellow card after feeling he had been brought down by Joao Moutinho in the area, VAR didn’t rule in Forest’s favour, denying Gibbs-White an opportunity at redemption until next week’s crunch clash.
Yates: I have to hold my hands up
Nottingham Forest captain Ryan Yates speaking to TNT Sport:
“Very disappointing. I feel we controlled most of the game. Obviously, it’s a very good team [we’re playing] away from home.
“I thought we stifled them. First off, they didn’t have any chances.
“We have an opportunity to make the breakthrough. We don’t. And then, unfortunately, I make a mistake on the other end and could never get a foothold in the game after that.
“That’s football. I think when you get an opportunity, you don’t take it, you get punished. I have to hold my hands up, and I should have done better. We’ve created a few more good chances, but unfortunately, it wasn’t our night.”
Dyche: One minute of madness cost us
Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche speaking to TNT Sport:
“One minute of madness in a game that we’ve never looked in trouble. We’ve never really dominated as much as we hoped.
“We didn’t open them up as many times as we hoped. Obviously, we haven’t got a recognised centre-forward, which can make it tricky. We missed a penalty, but that can happen.
“But then the reaction is, we’re not good enough for the next minute or so. We lose a game to what is a really poor goal.
“We got sucked into playing a bit slow. I mean, the pitch was a slow pitch. Obviously, it’s no one’s fault with the weather.
“We got sucked into playing slow. It didn’t really affect the backline as many times as we’d hoped. But then, of course, we get the penalty. It’s one-end games where you think we seal that.
“We’re pretty much not dominating the game. We had a good feel of the game. We’re keeping them to minimal chances at that point, not too many ourselves.
“And we get another penalty shout. It’s a maybe. I’ve seen them given. It goes against us, and it’s frustrating from there on in, to be honest.”
