SUPER Eagles striker Taiwo Awoniyi was not in Nottingham Forest’s matchday squad at the City Ground tonight as they won their first match under new manager Sean Dyche.
Awoniyi made his first appearance at the weekend in the 3-0 English Premier League defeat to Chelsea, in what was Ange Postecoglou’s last game in charge.
The Nigeria international’s absence had no negative impact on Forest as they won 2-0 against Porto, who had Super Eagles defender Zaidu Sanusi on as a second-half substitute.
Forest’s last European victory came in November 1995 when they beat Lyon 1-0 in the UEFA Cup third round first leg, en route to a quarter-final loss to Bayern Munich.
Dyche got off to a winning start and ended a run of 10 Forest games without a win thanks to two coolly-taken penalties that inflicted Porto’s first defeat of the campaign.
The hosts were ahead 20 minutes in when captain Morgan Gibbs-White stroked his kick into the bottom corner following Jan Bednarek’s handball.
Porto, who rarely threatened Matz Sels’ goal, went further behind when striker Igor Jesus opted to place his firm 77th-minute effort from the spot down the middle, after Martim Fernandes’ foul on Nicolò Savona.
In Italy, two goals in two minutes stunned Roma as they suffered their second consecutive home defeat in the Europa League against a spirited Plzeň, losing 2-1.
The visitors took control in the first half thanks to goals from Prince Kwabena Adu and Cheick Souaré.
Paulo Dybala’s reply from the penalty spot – the 200th goal of his career – sparked hope of a Roma rescue act. But Plzeň’s defence held firm, giving new coach Martin Hyský a dream start to his European campaign.
In the Netherlands, captain Mats Deijl’s winner gave Go Ahead Eagles successive comeback wins, as they defeated Aston Villa2-1.
Villa forward Evann Guessand prodded in the fourth-minute opener and was then denied by Jari De Busser in a one-on-one.
But Mathis Suray’s lob from inside the box gave the Dutch side their first-ever home goal in the competition proper in the 42nd minute before right-back Deijl’s composed finish 19 minutes later.
Emiliano Buendía sent a penalty over the crossbar 11 minutes from time for Villa, who remain on six points.
Kerem Aktürkoğlu’s first-half penalty was enough to secure back-to-back home league phase victories for Fenerbahçe, as they beat Stuttgart 1-0 in Turkey.
The Turkish winger coolly sent Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nübel the wrong way from the spot for his third goal in this season’s tournament, making him joint-top scorer.
In a game of few clear-cut chances, Deniz Undav missed the visitors’ biggest opportunity by side-footing wide in the 82nd minute to ensure the German side would remain on three points from three games.
In another Europa League fixtures, new coach Danny Röhl was unable to change Rangers’ fortunes as goals from Emil Kornvig, Jacob Sørensen and Noah Holm helped Brann inflict a third straight Europa League defeat on the Scottish club.
Lyon made it three wins from as many league phase outings – all without conceding – thanks to Corentin Tolisso’s early strike and a delightful curling finish from substitute Afonso Moreira late on against Basel.
Two goals in four second-half minutes from Liam Scales and Benjamin Nygren gave Celtic their first win in this season’s Europa League after a Tomi Horvat stunner had put Sturm Graz ahead.
RESULTS
Salzburg 2-3 Ferencváros
Fenerbahçe 1-0 Stuttgart
FCSB 1-2 Bologna
Go Ahead Eagles 2-1 Aston Villa
Genk 0-0 Real Betis
Lyon 2-0 Basel
Braga 2-0 Crvena Zvezda
Brann 3-0 Rangers
Roma 1-2 Viktoria Plzeň
Young Boys 3-2 Ludogorets
Celtic 2-1 Sturm Graz
Lille 3-4 PAOK
Maccabi Tel-Aviv 0-3 Midtjylland
Malmö 1-1 GNK Dinamo
Nottingham Forest 2-0 Porto
Celta 2-1 Nice
Freiburg 2-0 Utrecht
Feyenoord 3-1 Panathinaikos