Nottingham Forest gave their Premier League survival hopes a much-needed shot in the arm after beating Brighton 3-1 at the City Ground.
Forest were on a seemingly irreversible slide back to the Championship after a horror run of 11 games without a win going back to February, but they stopped the rot and moved out of the bottom three.
Another defeat had been on the cards after the Seagulls went ahead through Facundo Buonanotte’s goal on his first Premier League start after Brennan Johnson had missed an early penalty for Forest.
But an own goal by Pascal Gross on the stroke of half-time followed by second-half efforts from Danilo and Morgan Gibbs-White gave them a vital win.
This will renew belief that they can avoid the drop in their first season in the top flight in 23 years and also probably ends any lingering doubts over Steve Cooper’s future.
Brighton were looking to bounce back from the heart-breaking FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester United, but this loss hurt their European ambitions as they dropped to eighth, but they do have games in hand on the teams above them.
With their exertions on Sunday at Wembley, Forest sniffed an opportunity and they started brightly in the hope of catching their visitors cold.
They forged the perfect chance to get the advantage they needed when they were awarded an early penalty after Pervis Estupinan clumsily fouled Neco Williams.
Jason Steele was on the bench for Brighton at Wembley and watched on as Robert Sanchez failed to save any United penalties in the shoot-out and he showed his team-mate how it was done, beating away Johnson’s effort in the 10th minute.
There was a sense that Forest really needed that to go in as Brighton began to take control.
Kaoru Mitoma was a constant threat and he almost created an opener as he skinned Serge Aurier and Felipe down the left and teed up Julio Enciso, whose shot was spectacularly tipped over the crossbar by Keylor Navas.
Forest had struggled to recreate that early energy, yet they had another brilliant opportunity to go ahead in the 32nd minute when Danilo sent Johnson clear on goal but, under a challenge from Lewis Dunk, the Wales international put his shot wide.
There was no way that Forest were going to get away with missing two such golden opportunities and Brighton went ahead five minutes later.
They had Navas to thank as a double blunder allowed Buonanotte to enjoy the perfect full league debut.
The Chilean goalkeeper’s poor goal-kick handed possession straight back to the visitors and then he could only palm out Solly March’s shot into the danger area, giving the 18-year-old the easiest of tap-ins.
But to their credit, Forest kept going and crucially got themselves level deep into first-half stoppage time.
A nice move saw Taiwo Awoniyi set up Renan Lodi on the left and his cross was turned in by Gross at the near post, with Steele only able to get a hand on it.
To go into the break level was huge for Forest, though they almost fell behind just before the hour as Brighton sliced them open on the counter attack.
Buonanotte was sent clear and he cleverly held onto possession before slipping in Mitoma, who put his first-time effort agonisingly wide.
A lengthy delay after a nasty injury to Williams, who was carried off on a stretcher after clashing with Johnson, seemed to change the atmosphere in the City Ground and the lid was lifted off in the 69th minute as Forest took the lead.
Danilo did well to close down Moses Caicedo on the halfway line and then raced on to Awoniyi’s pass before slotting into the far corner to send the home fans wild.
Gibbs-White had the chance to make it a more comfortable final 20 minutes, but he shot over from the edge of the area and Forest had some defending to do.
But any nerves were settled in stoppage time as they were awarded another penalty after VAR spotted a handball by Dunk from a corner and Gibbs-White did what Johnson failed to do by sending Steele the wrong way.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
