Antony late strike halts Nottingham Forest European triumph Roma defeats Nice

A late effort from Antony stopped Nottingham Forest from claiming a successful comeback to European competition, allowing Real Betis to secure a 2-2 tie in the Europa League's initial match on Wednesday, as Roma claimed a victory over Nice.

Forest under the guidance of Ange Postecoglou, who lifted the trophy with Tottenham in the previous campaign, are competing in Europe for the initial occasion in three decades.

The team qualified for the Europa League instead of the Conference League due to English FA Cup champions Crystal Palace breaching UEFA regulations on multi-club ownership.

Betis, last season's Conference League finalists, opened the scoring in the 15th minute with Cedric Bakambu receiving Antony's pass in the penalty area, spinning, and smashing the ball into the top corner.

Forest equalised shortly after, in the 18th minute, through a fluid attack that ended with Morgan Gibbs-White delivering a low cross for Igor Jesus to poke home from near the line.

The Brazilian forward Igor Jesus, who netted his debut goals for Forest against Swansea following his transfer from Botafogo in the summer, flipped the scoreline midway through the opening period with a sharp header off Douglas Luiz's set-piece delivery.

Postecoglou's squad appeared poised to dominate fully before the interval, with Igor Jesus nearly completing a treble on two occasions and Callum Hudson-Odoi striking the upright.

Betis remained competitive, however, and sustained pressure towards the end bore fruit as Antony finished Marc Roca's delivery at the far post with five minutes left.

"Initially, I should express pride in the players' commitment. This is a challenging venue with tough circumstances," Postecoglou, yet to record a victory since taking over from dismissed Nuno Espirito Santo, shared with TNT Sports.

"The only criticism might be that we failed to seal the match decisively."

Roma launched their pursuit of a debut Europa League success with a solid 2-1 triumph away to Nice.

Gian Piero Gasperini's side, who advanced to the semi-finals in three of the last five years, earned a positive beginning via goals spaced three minutes apart in the second half by Evan Ndicka and Gianluca Mancini.

Terem Moffi reduced the deficit for Nice via a penalty in the 77th minute, yet Roma maintained their lead.

Authorities and legal officials reported the detention of 102 individuals linked to Roma supporters, several found with items that could serve as weapons, ahead of the fixture for planning acts of aggression.

Celtic, returning to the tournament since 2021 after a humiliating exit to Kairat Almaty in Champions League preliminaries, finished with a 1-1 stalemate against former European winners Red Star Belgrade in Serbia.

An extended phase of Celtic dominance early in the first half led to Kelechi Iheanacho's second strike since joining on a free from Sevilla this month.

Red Star responded in the 65th minute when Marko Arnautovic converted Franklin Tebo Uchenna's delivery.

In other results, Dinamo Zagreb triumphed 3-1 over Fenerbahce in Zagreb, while Freiburg from the Bundesliga edged Basel 2-1 at home.