Nottingham Forest take an important step towards reaching the final of the Europa League
Nottingham Forest took an important step towards reaching the final of the Europa League, beating their compatriot and guest Aston Villa by a goal without reply on Thursday at the City Ground in the first leg of the semi-finals.
New Zealand's Christopher Wood scored the only goal of the match in the 71st minute from a penalty awarded by the referee after the VAR was returned to the video assistant technology, due to a hand touch against French defender Lucas Denny inside the area.
Forest, the 1979 and 1980 European champions, continued their recent resurgence after extending their unbeaten streak to nine games in all competitions under Portuguese coach Vitor Pereira, after a period of decline at the start of the season.
Forest will play the second leg just 50 miles away at Villa Park on May 7, with the winner of the final facing the winner of Portugal's Braga and Germany's Freiburg in Istanbul on May 20.
At the Braga Municipal Stadium, Portugal's Sporting Braga defeated its German guest Freiburg by two goals to one, postponing the decision of the ticket to the final until the second leg next Thursday, at the "Europa Park" stadium.
Braga took an early lead through Turkey's Demir Eci Teknaz, who fired a close-range shot from close range taking advantage of Victor Gomez's pass in the eighth minute, and the visitors equalized in the 16th minute through Italian Vincenzo Grivo.
Braga squandered the chance to regain the lead in the first half after Uruguayan Rodrigo Zalazar missed a penalty in the 45+2nd minute after a save from goalkeeper Noah Atopolo, but Ivorian Maho Yepe Dorgeles snatched the winning goal for Braga in the 90+2nd minute.
Senegalese Ismaila Sarr scores the fastest goal in the history of the Europa Conference League
Senegalese Ismaila Sarr scored the fastest goal in the history of the Europa Conference Football League, helping his English team Crystal Palace beat its host Shakhtar Donetsk with a hat-trick on Thursday in the first leg of the semi-finals.
Saar's goal came just 21 seconds after the start of the match in Krakow, Poland, with a shot from inside the box, breaking the previous record in the tournament of 32 seconds, set by Verdi Drew in 2022.
Ole Ucheritko equalised for Shakhtar at the start of the second half in the 47th minute, before Japan's Daichi Kamada restored the lead for the English team in the 58th minute.
Before the final whistle, Norwegian substitute Jürgen Strand Larssen confirmed the visitors' superiority by adding a third goal in the 84th minute, from a solo pass from Daichi Kamada, to bring Crystal Palace closer to the European final.
The second leg in England will be held at Selhurst Park next week, where the qualifier awaits the final scheduled to be held in Leipzig on May 27.
At the Stade de Vallecas, Spain's Rayo Vallecano beat French side Strasbourg with a goal without reply scored by Brazilian Alemão in the 54th minute with a header from a corner kick by Isaac Balazon Camacho.