Sean Dyche’s debut sees Forest earn their first win in eleven matches with a 2-0 victory
Goals from Gibbs-White and Jesus from the spot secured the win
Hudson-Odoi and Ndoye consistently troubled Porto’s full-backs
Sean Dyche enjoyed a dream start to life as Nottingham Forest's new manager as he led them to a 2-0 win over Porto in the Europa League on Thursday.
Just two days after replacing Ange Postecoglou at the helm, Dyche marked his City Ground bow with a hard-fought triumph to earn Forest's first win of their European campaign as Morgan Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus made no mistake with their respective spot-kicks either side of half-time.
Backed by a raucous crowd inside the City Ground, Callum Hudson-Odoi forced Diogo Costa into an early save as he cut inside from the left and struck towards goal.
Forest's fast start was rewarded soon after when Jan Bednarek was penalised for a handball inside the box, and with normal penalty taker Chris Wood watching on from the stands after missing out through injury, Gibbs-White stepped up to send Costa the wrong way from 12 yards.
Porto responded well to going behind, with Alan Varela's strike from range tipped behind by Matz Sels before Samu Aghehowa prodded wide from close range before the break.
Francesco Farioli's team thought they had hauled themselves level through Bednarek as he smashed the ball home following a quick corner routine, but the goal was ruled out for an offside against Samu in the build-up.
Hudson-Odoi was then denied by a brilliant block from Bednarek, but Forest got themselves two goals in front 13 minutes from time after being awarded another penalty.
Referee Radu Petrescu had initially brandished a yellow card to substitute Nicolo Savona for simulation after going down under the challenge of Martim Fernandes, but after being sent for a pitchside review, he chose to reverse his decision.
And despite Forest swapping penalty takers, the same outcome transpired as Jesus smashed the ball down the middle to earn Forest a first win in all competitions since their opening-day win over Brentford on August 17.
Data Debrief: Dyche gets off to a flyer
After a turbulent season both on and off the pitch, Dyche was brought in to provide stability for Forest, and he started as he meant to go on here.
Indeed, Dyche became the first Forest manager since Philippe Montanier against Burton Albion in 2016 to win his first game in charge of the Tricky Trees at the City Ground, and his team were worthy of their victory here.
Forest registered an expected goals (xG) total of 2 from their eight shots, three of which were on target, compared to Porto's 0.53 from their 10 attempts, with Jesus' goal seeing him move on to three in the Europa League, the joint-most in the competition this season.
