Antony scored a late goal that kept Nottingham Forest from winning their return to European soccer, resulting in a 2-2 draw against Real Betis in their first Europa League match on September 24. Meanwhile, Roma secured a victory over Nice.
Nottingham Forest, led by coach Ange Postecoglou—who won this tournament with Tottenham last year—is competing in European football for the first time in 30 years.
Why Forest are in the Europa League
They are in the Europa League instead of the Conference League because Crystal Palace, who won the English FA Cup, faced issues due to UEFA’s regulations on owning multiple clubs.
Last season’s Conference League runners-up, Betis, took the lead early in the match, scoring in the 15th minute. A nice pass from Antony found Cedric Bakambu right in front of the goal. The experienced striker then skillfully turned and shot the ball into the top of the net, giving his team an advantage.
Just three minutes later, Forest scored an equaliser. They made a great team play that ended with Morgan Gibbs-White sending a low pass right across the goal, which Igor Jesus easily tapped in from close range.
Igor Jesus makes his mark
Igor Jesus from Brazil, who recently joined Forest from Botafogo, made quite an impact by scoring his first goals for the team last week against Swansea. During the match, he helped his team come back by scoring a great goal with a header after a corner kick taken by Douglas Luiz in the first half.
Postecoglou’s team looked like they would take full charge of the game before halftime. Igor Jesus almost scored three goals but came up just shy, and Callum Hudson-Odoi had a close call when his shot hit the post.
Late equaliser from Antony
Betis kept fighting in the match, and their hard work paid off in the final minutes. Antony scored with just five minutes left, thanks to a great pass from Marc Roca, finding the ball at the back post.
“I want to start by saying how proud I am of the players for their hard work. It’s tough to play in this environment and under these conditions,” Postecoglou mentioned to TNT Sports, as he continues to look for his first victory since taking over for the fired Nuno Espirito Santo. “The only thing I can criticize is that we should have finished the game off better.”
Roma secure opening win over Nice
Roma started their journey to win their first Europa League title with a strong performance, beating Nice 2-1 in their opening match.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s team, which has made it to the semi-finals in three of the last five seasons, kicked off their latest campaign with a strong performance. They scored two goals just a few minutes apart in the second half, with Evan Ndicka and Gianluca Mancini finding the net.
Terem Moffi scored a penalty goal for Nice with just 13 minutes left in the game, but Roma managed to maintain their lead and won the match.
Pre-match trouble in Rome
Local officials and prosecutors reported that 102 individuals, known as Roma ultras, were arrested before the game. Many of these people were found with items that could be used as weapons, and they were taken into custody because they were planning to cause violence.
Celtic held in Serbia
Celtic, returning to the competition after losing to Kairat Almaty in 2021, played to a 1-1 draw against Red Star Belgrade, another team with a rich history in European football. The match took place in Serbia.
At the beginning of the first half, Celtic put a lot of pressure on the opposing team, which eventually led to Kelechi Iheanacho scoring his second goal since joining the team for free from Sevilla earlier this month.
Other Europa League results
Red Star responded strongly in the 65th minute when Marko Arnautovic scored a goal after receiving a perfectly placed cross from Franklin Tebo Uchenna.
In other matches, Dinamo Zagreb secured a 3-1 victory against Fenerbahce in Croatia’s capital city. Meanwhile, the German team Freiburg enjoyed a home win, beating Basel 2-1.
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