Porto and Nottingham Forest share spoils in first leg, keeping Europa League quarter-final evenly balanced

Nottingham Forest fielded a significantly altered lineup to stay in the fight against Porto, yet their adjustments nearly cost them dearly right at the start within the first five minutes.

The most promising opportunity early on went to Terem Moffi, facing only Stefan Ortega in the box, but he shot directly at the Forest goalkeeper, and Borja Sainz followed suit with the follow-up attempt.

Porto kept up constant pressure from the outset, and their persistence paid off when Gabri Veiga played a pass along the six-yard box, allowing William Gomes to finish easily into the unguarded net at the far side.

Forest equalised almost immediately through an unusual mishap, as Martim Fernandes misjudged a 40-yard pass back, sending it too far and catching Diogo Costa out of position, resulting in the ball rolling into the bottom corner.

Fernandes faced further setback soon after when an injury forced him off the pitch, and while the remainder of the first half calmed down following the intense beginning, Moffi missed a golden chance just before the interval, rising above defenders in the box but heading tamely into Ortega's hands.

Forest made tactical swaps at halftime to shake things up, though it was Porto's key player Gomes who nearly put his team in front early in the second half, cutting in from the right flank and curling a shot narrowly past the upright.

Forest were left frustrated around the 60-minute mark after believing they had gone ahead, when Igor Jesus challenged Porto's Costa for a loose ball in the penalty area; with light contact sending the keeper down, official Marco Guida let the game continue for Jesus to net, but after a prolonged VAR review, it was ruled that the forward had committed a foul on Costa.

Two players introduced from the Porto bench nearly secured a lead to carry into next week's return fixture in the East Midlands, with Pepe threading a clever ball to the free Victor Froholdt in the box, yet he could only strike it across the goalmouth and just past the post.

The matchup hangs in the balance following the deadlock in the opening encounter, an outcome that likely favours Forest more, especially given their earlier victory over Porto at the City Ground this campaign.