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Wood Penalty Puts Forest on Brink of Europa League Final
Wood converted a second-half penalty after a VAR review, and Forest extended their unbeaten run to nine matches in all competitions.
On Thursday, Chris Wood converted a 71st-minute penalty to give Nottingham Forest a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa in the UEFA Europa League semi-final first leg at City Ground.
The victory extended Forest's unbeaten run to nine matches under manager Victor Pereira, as the club battles relegation after cycling through four managers since September.
Forest goalkeeper Stefan Ortega made crucial saves against Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins, including a decisive stop 10 minutes after the restart to preserve the clean sheet.
Manager Pereira told TNT Sports, "We changed the players but kept the spirit," while Wood cautioned that Villa Park will present "a tough game" in next week's second leg.
Both clubs face the May 7 second leg at Villa Park, where Unai Emery seeks a fifth Europa League title for Villa after their nine-game winning streak ended.
Chris Wood billed a penalty goal to give Nottingham Forest the 1-0 win over Aston Villa on Thursday in the one-way match of a fully English semifinal in the European League.