Forest’s top-eight hopes all but over after Braga defeat

Penalty miss and own goal sink Forest in Portugal

Nottingham Forest’s hopes of automatic qualification for the Europa League knockout stages are all but extinguished after a damaging 1–0 defeat away at Braga.

Captain Ryan Yates’ second-half own goal proved decisive, arriving less than a minute after Morgan Gibbs-White missed a penalty. The result leaves Forest almost certain to face a play-off tie, adding two extra fixtures to an already congested schedule.

Forest sit on 11 points, three adrift of the top eight, and would now require seven teams above them to drop points — a highly unlikely scenario.

Miserable night worsened by late red card

A frustrating evening in sodden Portugal ended on a sour note when Elliot Anderson was shown a straight red card in stoppage time after appearing to say something to referee Igor Pajac.

Disgruntled Forest supporters made their feelings clear at full-time as pressure continues to mount on manager Sean Dyche. The club will hope an imminent move for striker Lorenzo Lucca can help lift the mood ahead of Sunday’s Premier League trip to Brentford.

Lack of striker blunts Forest attack

Forest travelled without a recognised striker following Igor Jesus’ injury, while Taiwo Awoniyi was not registered for the competition. Dan Ndoye was deployed as a makeshift number nine but offered little threat in a disjointed first half.

The visitors’ only real chance before the break came from a Gibbs-White free kick from 20 yards, which was heading for the top corner before Lukas Hornicek produced a fine save.

Braga were also largely subdued, with their sole opportunity coming when Gabriel Martínez met Victor Gómez’s cross at the far post, only to head wide after Forest right-back Nicolò Savona had switched off.

Game decided in brutal 54-second spell

The contest turned dramatically in a decisive 54-second spell early in the second half.

Five minutes after the restart, Forest were awarded a penalty when James McAtee was brought down following a collision with Martínez. VAR upheld the decision, but Gibbs-White’s spot-kick was weak and Hornicek saved comfortably.

Braga immediately broke forward and went ahead less than a minute later. Ricardo Horta’s low cutback struck Yates and rolled into the net in cruel fashion.

Forest push but luck runs out

Gibbs-White had the chance to redeem himself soon after when played in by McAtee, but he blazed over from a promising position.

Forest responded positively and were inches away from an equaliser when Ola Aina’s swerving 30-yard effort thundered against the crossbar. Braga also hit the woodwork through Pau Victor as the game opened up.

Late pressure from Forest saw Hornicek deny Gibbs-White again before saving from Ndoye at the far post, with Yates’ follow-up header deflected onto the roof of the net.

The final whistle confirmed a damaging defeat that leaves Forest facing an uphill battle in Europe.