Overview
- Nottingham Forest, which won Thursday's Europa League semi-final first leg 1-0 at the City Ground, take a narrow lead into next week's return at Villa Park.
- The winner came from a penalty after video replays showed Omari Hutchinson kept the ball in play before Lucas Digne handled, and Chris Wood buried the spot-kick.
- The flashpoint was Elliot Anderson’s first-half slide on Ollie Watkins that took the ball but caught his ankle with studs, which drew no on-field card and only a brief VAR check.
- Unai Emery condemned the non-intervention as a clear red and praised the referee’s overall display, and Villa executive Damian Vidagany questioned on X why VAR stepped in for the penalty but not the tackle.
- Forest celebrated a strong team display under Vitor Pereira, with Anderson singled out in reports for his all-action midfield performance, as both clubs frame the tie as very much alive.