Nottingham Forest Beat Porto on Sean Dyche’s Winning Debut as Aston Villa Fall to Go Ahead Eagles
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Sean Dyche marked his managerial debut at Nottingham Forest with a crucial 2-0 victory over Porto in the Europa League on Thursday, as Aston Villa suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Go Ahead Eagles in the Netherlands.
Forest, who dismissed Ange Postecoglou after just 40 days and eight games in charge, had gone 10 matches without a win. Dyche, returning to the club where he began his playing career, immediately inspired a turnaround, even as VAR decisions played a key role in the outcome.
How Did Nottingham Forest Secure Their First Win Under Dyche?
Forest took the lead in the 19th minute when Morgan Gibbs-White converted from the penalty spot after Jan Bednarek was penalised for handball. Relieved and emotional, Gibbs-White admitted how much the result meant. “I can finally breathe tonight. It has been a difficult couple of months with all the changes and the bad performances. It feels a lot more positive and it needs to stay like that. That’s credit to the manager. He has instilled that in us, and we have to keep up that mentality.”
Porto thought they had levelled early in the second half when Bednarek found the net, but VAR ruled the goal out for offside against Samu Aghehowa. The video review system once again came to Forest’s aid when Nicola Savona, initially booked for simulation, saw his yellow card overturned. The referee awarded a second penalty, which Igor Jesus confidently buried for his first Forest goal.
The win handed Dyche the perfect start, ending Forest’s long wait for a victory and restoring confidence among fans who had grown frustrated with the club’s poor form.
What Went Wrong for Aston Villa in the Netherlands?
In contrast, Unai Emery’s Aston Villa endured a disappointing night. Despite entering the match as pre-tournament favourites after wins over Bologna and Feyenoord, Villa were outplayed by Go Ahead Eagles, who secured a historic win in their first-ever European group stage match.
Villa started brightly with Evann Guessand scoring his first goal for the club, but the hosts equalised through a deflected strike from Mathis Suray before Mats Deijl chipped over Emiliano Martinez to complete the comeback.
Late in the match, Emi Buendia, who had been Villa’s hero in their Premier League win over Tottenham, missed a penalty that could have rescued a draw. Emery reflected on the defeat, saying, “Today showed us how difficult it is to play in Europe, to play away. This is the reason I love football, because football has a lot of different ways to win. You can dominate, like we did, you have chances to score, but if we are conceding a few chances, maybe you can lose. And we did.”
Elsewhere, Rangers endured a disastrous 3-0 defeat to Brann in Norway, while Celtic staged a comeback to beat Sturm Graz 2-1. Lyon and Braga continued their perfect runs with 2-0 wins, and Fenerbahce edged Stuttgart 1-0, as Real Betis were held goalless by Genk.
By Yockshard Enyendi
