Villa Beat Feyenoord 2-0, Forest Lose
October 2, Rotterdam, Netherlands Aston Villa defeated Feyenoord 2-0 on Thursday to make it two wins from two in the Europa League, but Nottingham Forest lost 3-2 at home to Midtjylland and is still waiting for their first win under Ange Postecoglou.
Rangers lost 2-1 against Sturm Graz, while Porto defeated Red Star Belgrade 2-1 after a late comeback.
Emi Martinez was substituted for Marco Bizot before kickoff, and the late call-up was the busier goalkeeper in the first half, twice denying Anis Hadj Moussa and making a spectacular save against Luciano Valente.
Villa had survived the first half’s storm, but Emiliano Buendia’s one-touch control of Boubacar Kamara’s pass at the edge of the box and subsequent strike into the bottom corner gave Villa the lead in the 61st minute.
Donyell Malen ran into the box just before losing possession, but John McGinn was there to jump and smash the ball into the net, giving Villa the victory 11 minutes from time. After two games, Villa had all the points.
Permanent Forest Frustration
Following a humiliating defeat to the Danish team, boos reverberated around the stadium, capping an exciting evening in which Forest played their first European match at the City Ground since 1996.
Less than a month has passed since Postecoglou took over for Nuno Espirito Santo, yet the Australian has lost all six of his games in command across all competitions.
Mads Bech sent a free kick into the area, which Ousmane Diao knocked in from close range, putting Forest up in the eighteenth minute.
Within four minutes, Morgan Gibbs-White collected a long kick forward from the keeper, squared the ball into the box, and Dan Ndoye beat his marker to score under pressure, bringing the home team level.
Two minutes later, Martin Erlic’s header was saved by goalie Matz Sels from a corner kick, but Bech was there to nudge the ball home, giving Midtjylland another lead.
Forest supporters chanted “you’re getting sacked in the morning” after Valdemar Byskov gave the Danes a 3-1 lead with two minutes remaining.
The home team did rally with a penalty kick from Chris Wood in added time, but it was too late to even salvage a draw with Forest supporters fleeing.
Porto stays flawless.
William’s penalty gave Porto the lead early on, but Vasilije Kostov gave Red Star the equalizer at halftime, and Rodrigo Mora’s goal in the 89th minute kept the Portuguese team on top of the standings.
Sturm Graz took the lead early thanks to a deflected strike from Tomi Horvat, and the Austrians were ahead at halftime after Otar Kiteishvili scored off Horvat’s free kick behind the Rangers defense.
Four minutes after the half, Rangers’ Djeidi Gassama gave them a response, but the home team held firm.
Earlier on Thursday, AS Roma lost to Lille 1-0 at home. Hakon Haraldsson scored for the visitors in the sixth minute after a defensive blunder.
Berke Ozer, the goalie for Lille, made three saves after the penalty kick was again ordered to be retaken, denying Roma a lifeline in the last minutes.
Braga defeated Celtic 2-0 at home when Gabri Martinez sealed Braga’s victory five minutes from time after goalie Kasper Schmeichel mishandled a long-range attempt by Ricardo Horta.
