Nottingham Forest’s hopes of qualifying automatically hit in Braga defeat

Nottingham Forest’s hopes of earning automatic qualification to the knockout rounds of the Europa League are all-but over after a disastrous 1-0 defeat at Braga.

Forest were sunk by skipper Ryan Yates’ second-half own goal, which came less than a minute after Morgan Gibbs-White missed a penalty.

The defeat leaves Forest almost certain to go into the play-off round and face two extra fixtures in the thick of an already packed schedule.

They are on 11 points – three adrift of the top eight – but they would need seven teams above them to either lose or drop points.

A miserable night ended in a straight red card for Elliot Anderson in injury time after he appeared to say something to referee Igor Pajac.

It worsens the mood surrounding the club, with disgruntled fans making their feelings clear in a sodden Portugal as the pressure builds on manager Sean Dyche.

Forest are closing in on the signing of striker Lorenzo Lucca and they will hope that lifts the mood ahead of Sunday’s Premier League trip to Brentford.

They had no recognised striker in Portugal due to an injury to Igor Jesus, with Taiwo Awoniyi not being registered.

Winger Dan Ndoye was deployed in the number nine position but offered little presence and Forest struggled for clear-cut chances in a drab first half.

The only time they tested the Braga goalkeeper was when Gibbs-White sent a 20-yard free-kick heading into the top corner, but Lukas Hornicek produced a great save.

The hosts were not up to much in the first half either and only threatened once. Forest right-back Nicolo Savona was dozing at the far post and Gabri Martinez got on the end of Victor Gomez’ cross but his header went wide.

The game swung in a decisive 54 seconds after the break.

Five minutes after