Friday’s briefing: Forest defeat adds to Postecoglou pressure as Villa win

Nottingham Forest slumped to a 3-2 home defeat against Midtjylland in the Europa League – heaping more pressure on new boss Ange Postecoglou as his winless run continued.

Aston Villa beat Feyenoord 2-0 in Rotterdam, but Celtic and Rangers both suffered defeats.

Crystal Palace opened their Conference League campaign with a 2-0 victory over Dynamo Kiev, while Aberdeen lost at home to Shakhtar Donetsk.

Ange Postecoglou feels Forest fans’ fury

Nottingham Forest suffered defeat in their first European game at the City Ground in almost 30 years as the home fans turned on new boss Ange Postecoglou during a 3-2 Europa League loss to Midtjylland.

Forest fans vented their frustration – with chants of “sacked in the morning” aimed at the Australian alongside songs of support for former boss Nuno Espirito Santo.

Ousmane Diao’s opener killed the early buzz inside the stadium, before Dan Ndoye equalised for Forest in the 22nd minute – but Mads Bech then swiftly put the visitors in front again.

Forest saw two goals from substitute Chris Wood ruled out for offside before Midtjylland caught Forest on the counter-attack and added a third through Valdemar Andreasen.

A stoppage-time penalty from Wood was unable to stop the boos from ringing around the City Ground.

Postecoglou, though, remained defiant in the face of the criticism. He said: “That’s nothing I can control.

“My responsibility to make sure we try and get some wins for this football club and progress it and that’s what I’ll be focusing on.”

Aston Villa revival continues

Emi Buendia and John McGinn struck second-half goals as Aston Villa beat Feyenoord 2-0 in Rotterdam to make it back-to-back Europa League wins.

Villa held their nerve at De Kuip after coming under heavy first-half pressure, with Buendia and then McGinn converting telling blows for Unai Emery’s side.

Back at the venue where they sealed the club’s greatest triumph by beating Bayern Munich to lift the European Cup in 1982, Villa notched their third win in a week to put their dismal start to the season behind them.

Eagles soar again in Europe

Crystal Palace set a new club record as they started their Conference League campaign with a 2-0 win over Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kiev in Poland.

Daniel Munoz scored Palace’s first-ever away goal in Europe at the Motor Lublin Arena before second-half substitute Eddie Nketiah struck just ahead of the hour.

Palace extended their run to 19 unbeaten matches, seeing out the closing stages despite a late red card for Borna Sosa after the midfielder picked up two swift cautions.

Heat still on Rangers boss Russell Martin

Rangers showed fighting spirit as they lost 2-1 away to Sturm Graz, but under-fire boss Russell Martin remains firmly on the back foot.

Slovenia striker Tomi Horvat scored after just seven minutes at the Merkur Arena, with Georgia midfielder Otar Kiteishvili driving home a second before the break.

Rangers winger wide man Djeidi Gassama pulled a goal back early in the second half, but the comeback could not be completed and the pressure is still firmly on Martin after just five wins in 16 games.

Celtic slip to home defeat against Braga

Braga wrapped up a 2-0 win at Celtic, where Kelechi Iheanacho was on the wrong end of a hugely controversial handball decision.

Iheanacho appeared to have brought Celtic level in the 51st minute, after Bhoys keeper Kasper Schmeichel made a mess of dealing with Ricardo Horta’s long-range strike in the first half.

German referee Tobias Stieler, though, disallowed the goal – with VAR upholding the decision despite no hint of handball in the replays when Iheanacho charged down a scrambled clearance before slotting home.

Gabri Martinez then netted on the rebound five minutes from time to leave Brendan Rodgers’ side with one point from their opening two matches – and chants of “all Celtic fans against the board” again ringing out around the ground.

No European respite for Dons

Aberdeen struggles continued into the Conference League as Shakhtar Donetsk came from behind to win 3-2 at Pittodrie.
The Dons – who have not scored in their opening six William Hill Premiership games and sit bottom of the table with one point – took an early lead through a penalty from Jesper Karlsson.

Ukrainian league leaders Shakhtar, though, turned the match around with goals from Yegor Nazaryna, Lucas Ferreira and Pedro Henrique before Nicky Devlin pulled one back with 20 minutes left.

What’s on today

England manager Thomas Tuchel will name his next squad on Friday morning for the friendly against Wales and World Cup qualifier away to Latvia.

Friday night’s live Premier League action sees Bournemouth host Fulham, while in the Sky Bet Championship Wrexham take on Birmingham.

In the Women’s Super League, champions Chelsea are away to Manchester United.

Ahead of the weekend’s Premier League fixtures several clubs will be holding press conferences – including Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United and Manchester City along with Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea.