A late goal by Antony on Wednesday denied Nottingham Forest a winning return to European competition as Real Betis Balompie grabbed a 2-2 draw in their UEFA Europa League opener, while AS Roma won against OGC Nice.
Forest, managed by Ange Postecoglou, who won the tournament with Tottenham Hotspur last season, are playing in Europe for the first time in 30 years.
They are only in the Europa League rather than the UEFA Conference League because English FA Cup winners Crystal Palace fell foul of UEFA’s rules governing multi-club ownership.
Photo: Reuters
Last season’s Conference League runners-up Betis struck first in the 15th minute when Antony’s pass picked out Cedric Bakambu inside the area before the veteran striker turned and fired the ball into the roof of the net.
Forest leveled three minutes later as a sweeping move finished with Morgan Gibbs-White’s low ball across the face of the goal being tapped in from close range by Igor Jesus.
Brazilian Igor Jesus, who scored his first goals for Forest since his summer move from Botafogo against Swansea City last week, completed the turnaround midway through the first half with a clinical header from Douglas Luiz’s corner.
Postecoglou’s men threatened to seize complete control before halftime as Igor Jesus twice went close to a hat-trick and Callum Hudson-Odoi hit a shot against the post.
However, Betis stayed in the game and a period of late pressure paid dividends when Antony slotted in Marc Roca’s ball at the back post with five minutes remaining.
Roma got their campaign for a first Europa League title under way with an impressive 2-1 victory against Nice.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s men, who have reached at least the semi-finals in three of the previous five seasons, secured a winning start thanks to two goals in the space of three second-half minutes from Evan Ndicka and Gianluca Mancini.
Terem Moffi pulled one back for Nice from the penalty spot with 13 minutes to play, but Roma held on.
Celtic, playing in the competition for the first time since 2021 after an embarrassing loss to Kairat Almaty in UEFA Champions League qualifying, were held to a 1-1 draw by fellow former European champions Red Star Belgrade in Serbia.
A long spell of Celtic pressure at the start of the first half culminated in Kelechi Iheanacho’s second goal since signing on a free transfer from Sevilla earlier this month.
Red Star hit back in the 65th minute as Marko Arnautovic turned in Franklin Tebo Uchenna’s cross.
Elsewhere, Dinamo Zagreb beat Fenerbahce 3-1 in the Croatian capital, while Bundesliga side SC Freiburg clinched a 2-1 home victory over Basel 1893.
Portuguese side SC Braga celebrated a 1-0 home victory over Feyenoord, sealed by Fran Navarro’s decisive strike in the 79th minute.
Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv held PAOK to a 0-0 draw amid a heavy police presence and protests in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Maccabi had a first-half goal disallowed due to offside as both sides wasted decent chances to score.
PAOK fans booed Maccabi at the start, waved Palestinian flags and unveiled a banner near the pitch in the first half which read: “Show Israel the red card.”
Danish side Midtjylland beat Austria’s Sturm Graz 2-0.
The Europa League uses the same 36-team league format as the Champions League. Teams play eight different opponents during the league phase and are ranked in a single-standings table.
Additional reporting by Reuters and AP
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