Nottingham Forest defeat Aston Villa 1-0 in Europa League semi-final first leg as Chris Wood scores decisive penalty at the City Ground

Nottingham Forest Football Club, in Nottingham, secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Aston Villa Football Club in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final clash at the City Ground.

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Chris Wood scored the decisive goal for Nottingham Forest in the second half, converting a penalty to give his side a crucial advantage heading into the return leg.

The tightly contested encounter saw both Premier League sides struggle to break each other down in open play before the breakthrough moment arrived after the interval.

Aston Villa will now host Nottingham Forest in the second leg at Villa Park next week, where they will look to overturn the deficit and keep their European hopes alive.

In the other semi-final fixture played on the same night, Sporting Clube de Braga recorded a 2-1 home win over SC Freiburg at the Braga Municipal Stadium.

Braga took control of the match through goals from Demir Ege Tıknaz and Mario Dorgeles, securing a valuable first-leg advantage in front of their home supporters.

SC Freiburg managed to pull one goal back but could not find an equaliser before the final whistle.

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The German side will now welcome Braga to the Europa-Park-Stadion next Thursday for the return leg, where both ties remain finely poised ahead of the final.