Dyche makes perfect start as Forest ease past Porto

14 hours ago 1

A penalty in each half was enough to give Sean Dyche the perfect start as Nottingham Forest manager as they beat Porto to pick up their first win in the Europa League this season.

Dyche, a former Forest youth team player, was appointed as Ange Postecoglou's replacement on Tuesday and received a raucous homecoming from a City Ground crowd which would be given more to cheer within 20 minutes of kick-off.

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Sean Dyche made three changes to the team that had been beaten 3-0 in Ange Postecoglou's final game in charge against Chelsea, reverting to a back four.

A new look front three was introduced with Callum Hudson-Odoi, Igor Jesus and Dan Ndoye all restored to the starting line-up.

After former Southampton defender Jan Bednarek handled in the penalty area, Gibbs-White was able to send Diogo Costa the wrong way and open his account for the season while also notching the first goal of the Dyche era.

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Morgan Gibbs-White opened the scoring from the penalty spot

Bednarek thought he had redeemed himself early in the second half as he bundled in an equaliser in an apparent continuation of Forest’s set-piece woes, but a VAR check saw the goal ruled out after striker Samu Aghehowa was offside from an initial flick-on.

The visitors continued to apply pressure without creating much to write home about, and they were punished by a second spot-kick with less than a quarter of an hour of regular time to play.

Nicolo Savona was initially booked for diving under a challenge from Martim Fernandes, but a VAR check saw the decision overturned and allowed Igor Jesus to double the advantage with his first goal at the City Ground.

Igor Jesus added a second goal from the penalty spot

Forest fans also took the time to pay their respects at half-time and throughout the game to Harley Pearce, son of club legend Stuart, who sadly lost his life earlier this week.

For Dyche, the win against a side who had yet to taste defeat this season gives him the ideal start while pulling Forest away from the bottom 11 of the league phase table.