Chris Woods spot kick proves decisive as Nottingham Forest defeat Aston Villa in semi final opener

As these two past European winners battled in the early stages of the first all English European semi final since 2009 it seemed like it could be a cautious opening match.

However early stops by Stefan Ortega from Youri Tielemans and Morgan Rogers along with some encouraging attacks from Forest put that idea to the test in the middle of the opening period.

And the expression on Emiliano Martinezs face told the story when he barely stopped Igor Jesus close range shot from going over the line thus preventing his team from trailing for the first time in five UEL away games.

That summed up the first half but fresh optimism emerged for both teams after the interval and Ollie Watkins prod towards goal was a straightforward save for the well placed Ortega.

A period of quiet play ensued so it came as a shock when referee Joao Pinheiro went to the VAR monitor and gave a penalty after Omari Hutchinson looped it back from the line onto the extended arm of Lucas Digne.

Chris Wood appeared calm as he smashed it into the top left corner from the penalty spot netting in consecutive matches for the first time since his injury comeback.

The anticipated fightback from the away team did not happen after the score and Forest managed the win appearing more dangerous to add to their tally.

With a top five spot in the Premier League seeming assured Unai Emery might rest players this weekend needing a solid showing in the return fixture to advance from his sixth straight UEL semi final as manager.

Forest will be pleased with the lead which they will probably require as they have not won at the Villans since 1994.