Nottingham Forest beat 10-man Porto to advance to the semi-finals of a European competition for the first time since 1984, where they will face Premier League rivals Aston Villa.
After last week’s 1-1 draw in Portugal, Morgan Gibbs-White scored the only goal at the City Ground to set up a mouth-watering final-four Europa League tie with Villa later this month.
Porto had failed to win any of their previous 24 matches on English soil, including a 2-0 defeat to Forest in October.
The task became even tougher for the Portuguese side when Jan Bednarek was sent off after just eight minutes for a high challenge on Chris Wood.
Referee Danny Makkelie had initially decided against booking the former Southampton and Aston Villa defender before the video assistant referee recommended an on-field review.
From that moment, Nottingham – who have used this competition as a welcome escape from their struggles in the Premier League this season – stepped up the pressure and took the lead through Gibbs-White four minutes later.
The England midfielder latched onto a pass from Neco Williams before firing past Diogo Costa, with his strike taking a deflection off Pablo Rosario, who was deputising at the heart of defence following Bednarek’s dismissal.
Gibbs-White dedicated his celebration to team-mate Elliott Anderson, who missed Thursday’s match after the death of his mother earlier in the day.
The only downside of a magical night for Forest came shortly after the 15-minute mark as Wood – who made his return from a six-month lay-off in last week’s first leg – was unable to continue after the earlier challenge from Bednarek.
But Nottingham continued to push for a second goal without last season’s top scorer and could have extended their lead before the break through efforts from Omari Hutchinson, Murillo and Nicolas Dominguez.
After a quartet of changes from manager Francesco Farioli during the break, Porto were reinvigorated at the start of the second half.
The Liga Portugal leaders began to find more space in between the lines and, as a result, almost drew level in the 56th minute when William Gomes smashed the crossbar after finding himself unmarked at the back post.
Late injuries to Murillo and substitute Callum Hudson‑Odoi threatened to take the wind out of Forest’s sails, but Pereira’s side held on to win at the City Ground for the first time since January and extend their unbeaten run to six games in all competitions.
Braga will face Freiburg in the other semi-final, with the first legs taking place on 30 April and the return fixtures a week later on 7 May.
