Nottingham Forest 1-0 Aston Villa Highlights, Europa League: Chris Wood Penalty Gives Tricky Trees First-Leg Advantage

Hello, football fans! This is the start of our live blog covering Nottingham Forest’s semi-final first leg tie against Aston Villa. Stay tuned for pre-match updates and line-ups as they are released.

• Fixture: Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa

• Series: UEFA Europa League 2025-26

• Venue: The City Ground

• Date: Thursday, April 30, 2026

• Time: 12:30 AM IST (May 1)

• Live Streaming: SonyLIV

• Live Telecast: -

Starting XI: Stefan Ortega; Ola Aina, Nikola Milenkovic, Morato, Neco Williams; Omaro Hutchinson, Nicolas Dominguez, Elliot Anderson, Morgan Gibbs-White (c); Chris Wood, Igor Jesus.

Bench: Matz Sels (gk), Keehan Willows (gk), Zach Abbott, Justin Hanks, Ryan Yates, James McAtee, Dilane Bakwa, Archie Whitehall, Jimmy Sinclair, Lorenzo Lucca, Zyan Blake.

Starting XI: Emiliano Martinez; Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres, Lucas Digne; Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans; John McGinn (c), Emiliano Buendia, Morgan Rogers; Ollie Watkins.

Bench: Marco Bizot (gk), James Wright (gk), Victor Lindelöf, Tyrone Mings, Andres Garcia, Ian Maatsen, Harvey Elliott, Jadon Sancho, Douglas Luiz, Lamare Bogarde, Leon Bailey, Tammy Abraham.

Last five matches:

• Nottingham Forest 1-1 Aston Villa (2026)

• Aston Villa 3-1 Nottingham Forest (2026)

• Aston Villa 2-1 Nottingham Forest (2025)

• Nottingham Forest 2-1 Aston Villa (2024)

• Aston Villa 4-2 Nottingham Forest (2024)

The two English Premier League sides come out of the tunnel and take their positions on the City Ground. Referee Joao Pinheiro blows his whistle, and it's Villa who take the kick off.

A good, direct start from Forest. The ball is headed towards Igor Jesus, and the Brazilian plays a through ball from the flanks aimed towards Gibbs-White. However, there's a bit too much power on it and it goes out for a goal kick.

The first shot on target from Aston Villa, and Ortega makes a good diving save. It's Jesus who carelessly loses the ball in his own half, and it's recycled to Tielemans. The Belgium takes it on his right and takes a good shot, but Ortega is alert and keeps it out. The resulting corner is cleared easily.

It has been a cagey affair so far at the City Ground, with both sides yet to create a clear-cut chance in the opening 20 minutes or so. Both sides have tried to play in crosses from the flanks, but the tall defenders have come out on top so far.

Forest have upped the ante a bit in the last few minutes. After an opportunity for Gibbs-White which is headed wide, Jesus sees his shot blocked at the edge of the box. The resulting corner is straight at Martinez, who grabs on to it.

Another couple of half-chances for Forest. Moments after Hutchinson's powerful effort is blocked by Digne, the Tricky Trees come forward again, and the ball is played to Anderson. However, the midfielder's ambitious effort floats over the bar.

Seconds later, Ortega makes a good save to deny Rogers at the other end. The game looks like it's opening up.

What a save from Martinez to deny Jesus! A good pass towards the left finds Gibbs-White, who cuts it back first time to find Jesus in the middle of the box. The Brazilian's first-time effort is goalbound, but Martinez adjusts himself and gets down to hold on to the ball. Brilliant!

It has been a frantic first half, with half-decent chances at both ends. However, we are somehow yet to see the opening goal, despite 11 shots from the two teams. A big second half awaits.

The players are out on the pitch for the second half. No changes at the break for either side as far as I can see. Villa take the kick-off, but Rogers commits a foul soon after restart on Dominguez.

It has been a really attacking start to the second half from both sides. Ola Aina's cross from the right, aimed towards Jesus, is cleared away by the defence, and Rogers pushes forward at the other end. However, his piercing cut back is also cleared away from harm's way.

Forest are really knocking on Villa's doors at the moment. Dominguez finds Hutchinson, who has acres of space at the edge of the box. He pulls the trigger from a promising area, but the shot is really weak and easily collected by Martinez.

Unai Emery turns to his bench for the first change of the night. Onana, who looks like he has suffered a knock, is replaced by Bogarde. Hopefully, the Belgian midfielder is fine.

The first good chance of the second half, and it falls to Aston Villa! It's smart play from the visitors, with the ball reaching Rogers, who takes a touch before playing a through ball with his right. It picks out Watkins beautifully, but the latter's first-time effort is straight at Ortega.

In the last 10 minutes or so, Aston Villa have regained some footing in the contest and are enjoying more of the ball. They win a corner, which is cleared away by the Forest defence. Martinez is at the top of his game at the other end, grabbing a cross from a short corner.

Penalty to Nottingham Forest!! A ball into the box hits the arm of Digne. Villa claim that the ball had gone out of play, but replays show that it was just inside when it hit the outstretched arms of the French full-back. VAR asks the referee to look at the incident on the monitor, and Joao Pinheiro awards the penalty!

Chris Wood steps up to take the penalty kick, and the New Zealand international makes no mistake from the spot. He hammers it past Martinez to put Nottingham Forest ahead!

Now with his side ahead in the contest, Vitor Pereira turns to his bench, bringing on Zach Abott to replace Aina, who also seems to have picked up an injury. Rogers, meanwhile, heads a cross from the right away from Ortega's goal.

Unai Emery shakes up his tiring team by introducing three new players are we enter the final 10 minutes of regulation time. Douglas Luiz, Sancho, and Maatsen come on in places of Digne, McGinn, and Buendia.

The regulation ninety minutes are over, and the fourth official holds up his board to indicate a minimum of five minutes to be added on. Five minutes for Aston Villa to find an equaliser away from home.

Meanwhile, Williams brings out a decent save from Martinez with a header, and Tielemans sees his effort high over the bar at the other end.

The five minutes of stoppage time flies by, but Aston Villa are unable to find the equaliser they were searching for. Chris Wood's second-half penalty proves to be the deciding goal in the first leg, which means that Nottingham Forest will have the slenderest of margins in the second leg next week.