Own Goal — Ryan Yates 56’ Nottingham Forest (OG)
Nottingham Forest’s European adventure took another painful twist in Portugal as Braga edged a 1-0 win built on a chaotic minute that left Sean Dyche’s side shell-shocked and their travelling support seething.
Forest were handed a golden chance to seize control shortly after the restart when James McAtee was clipped in the box. After a lengthy VAR check, Morgan Gibbs-White stepped up — but his penalty lacked conviction and Lukas Hornicek got down sharply to save low to his left. Less than 54 seconds later, Forest unravelled.
Braga broke at speed and when Ricardo Horta drilled the ball across goal, captain Ryan Yates slid in to intercept but only succeeded in steering it past Matz Sels and into his own net. A goal neither side truly created proved decisive, and Yates later admitted: “I have to hold my hands up — I should have done better.”
Despite dominating possession and registering five shots on target — while Braga failed to muster a single effort on goal — Forest were undone by their own mistakes. The visitors pushed hard for an equaliser, with Ola Aina rattling the crossbar from 30 yards and Gibbs-White seeing another effort turned away.
Hornicek then produced a crucial late double save, first denying Dan Ndoye from close range before blocking Yates’ follow-up header, preserving Braga’s slender advantage during a tense finale on a slick, rain-soaked pitch.
Dyche, who made seven changes to his starting XI and again operated without a recognised striker, cut a frustrated figure on the touchline. “It was a minute of madness,” he said afterwards. “We haven’t got magic dust. When you miss a penalty and then concede like that, it’s always going to cost you.”
Forest’s lack of a natural No 9 — with Igor Jesus injured, Chris Wood sidelined and Taiwo Awoniyi unregistered — told in a game they largely controlled but never truly commanded. Winger Ndoye led the line, yet clear-cut chances remained scarce.
Matters worsened in stoppage time when Elliot Anderson was shown a straight red card for dissent, drawing loud jeers from the away end and capping a thoroughly frustrating night.
The defeat does not mathematically end Forest’s hopes of finishing in the top eight, but it leaves them three points adrift and reliant on a favourable set of results elsewhere ahead of their final fixture against Ferencváros. For now, though, the mood is bleak. A missed penalty, an own goal and a late red card combined to turn a promising European evening into a harsh lesson in fine margins — and one that Forest can ill afford to repeat.
