Nottingham Forest’s profligacy was punished late on by FC Midtjylland as they fell to a 1-0 first-leg defeat in the Europa League round of 16 in treacherous conditions at the City Ground.
Substitute Guesung Cho capitalised on a lapse in concentration from Forest defender Ola Aina to head in the winner for Midtjylland with 10 minutes to go on a rain-soaked night by the River Trent. The home side, now winless in five, had 22 shots yet failed to score.
Ticket prices were slashed for Forest fans in the hope of filling out the stadium but those in attendance endured another frustrating night watching their team flounder in front of goal in the wet and windy weather. The night, predictably, ended with boos.
Sacking Sean Dyche to bring in Vitor Pereira has not had the desired effect so far. Since the Forest boss took over, overseeing four defeats in six, no side in Europe’s top five league have lost more games in all competitions.
Omari Hutchinson in the torrential rain at the City Ground for Nottingham Forest
Star man Elliot Anderson, who scored twice in last week’s draw at Manchester City, tried to overcome the conditions, coming close to setting up Morgan Gibbs-White, before seeing his own tame effort saved in an impressive second half, falling short this time.
Forest had countless opportunities to go in front, seeing former Bournemouth midfielder Philip Billing clear the ball off the line for Midtjylland and Omari Hutchinson’s long-range strike saved, but lacked the quality to find the breakthrough.
Midtjylland were ruthless in comparison, scoring with only their second shot on target of the game, though that does not tell the whole story. Substitute Valdemar Andreasen struck the bar and forced a good save from Matz Sels in quick succession.
The Danes remained patient to become just the fourth side this century to win twice at the City Ground in a single season. Both winning goals were the only they have scored after the 80th minute in Europe.
Forest have a mountain to climb in the second leg in Denmark next week if they are to progress to the quarter-finals. Attentions, however, will quickly turn to Sunday’s crucial Premier League game against Fulham – live on Sky Sports – and their fight for survival.
Pereira: Even the rain was against us!
Nottingham Forest head coach Vitor Pereira to TNT Sports:
“It is difficult to explain. We create so many chances to score a goal. Even if we draw, in my opinion, it was not fair.
“The two chances they create, they score a goal. But we had enough time and I believe we had the quality to win the game.”
“If you create a chance and we don’t score, in the end we did everything to score. We did everything and were just missing the goals.
“I’m very frustrated that we did not score and they came here to draw but they won the game. I try to keep the spirit and prepare for the next game against Fulham.
“Even the rain played against us! The best moment we are playing, creating and the dynamic is good, the rain came.
“It was difficult with the rain. As I said before, keep the spirit and go there with the mentality to win the game. We will see. Now it is time to recover mentally.”
Hutchinson: We have full belief we can turn it around
Nottingham Forest forward Omari Hutchinson to TNT Sports:
“In training, we have been working on finishing. Hopefully, we get it right next week.
“I wouldn’t say confidence [is the issue]. We were making chances and the crowd were behind us. We have to give credit them.
“Every game we are playing is massive and we have full belief, the manager gives us full confidence. We just want it to click.”
Opta stats: Frustrating Forest
- Nottingham Forest have converted just 8.6% of their shots in all competitions this season – the lowest ratio of any Premier League side in 2025-26.
- In their major European history, FC Midtjylland have only scored two winning goals in the 80th minute or later away from home – both have come at Nottingham Forest this season (88th minute in October, 80th minute tonight).
- Nottingham Forest have only restricted their opponents to zero shots on target in the first half of eight out of 42 games in all competitions this season, but three of those have come in the six games since Vitor Pereira arrived as manager.
When are the knockout stages?
Round of 16 second legs: March 19
Quarter-finals: April 9 and 16
Semi-finals: April 30 and May 7
Final: May 20 [Besiktas Stadium, Istanbul]
