Francesco Farioli’s FC Porto drew 1-1 against Nottingham Forest on Thursday afternoon. Playing at home, the Portuguese team dominated the first minutes, but could not find a winner. The second leg is scheduled for next Thursday in England.
The hosts should have opened the scoring in the first minute when Terem Moffi was left unmarked on the edge of the area, but his shot went wide, allowing Stefan Ortega to clear the danger.
Moments later, however, the locals opened the scoring. Pablo Rosario launched a clever backheel to free Gabri Viega, whose cross was headed in at the far post by William Gomes.
The lead lasted just two minutes. Right back Martim Fernandes, while attempting to head the ball towards his goalkeeper from 40 yards, misjudged the weight of his header and inadvertently beat his own goalkeeper, tying the score at 1-1.
Worse still, Fernandes was injured five minutes later and was replaced by Alberto Costa.
After the break, both teams created spaces. Nottingham thought they had taken the lead thanks to Igor Jesus, but the goal was disallowed for a foul on Diogo Costa.
After the disallowed goal, Porto pushed to win. Gomes forced another save from Ortega and Viktor Froholdt shot wide from inside the area, but the hosts could not find the decisive shot.