Europa League – Akturkoglou scores twice and Hudson-Odoi adds another, Nottingham Forest lose 1-2 to Fenerbahce but still advance to the round of 16

In the second leg of the 2025/26 Europa League play-off, Nottingham Forest lost 1-2 at home to Fenerbahce. Nevertheless, they advanced to the round of 16 with a 4-2 aggregate score.

Fenerbahce took the initiative from the start and opened the scoring in the 22nd minute: Sidiq Sheriff made a run down the right flank halfway before delivering a cross, which Karem Akturkoglou fired a low shot into the net. Nottingham Forest responded in the 25th minute with a counter-attack from Elliott Anderson, but his shot after a strong run to the left side of the penalty area went just wide of the post.

After that, the game became a stalemate. In the first minute of first-half stoppage time, Sharif received a backheel pass from Akturkoglu in the penalty area and his shot was quite threatening, but it was brilliantly saved by Stefan Ortega.

After the break, Fenerbahce quickly extended their lead with a penalty: Akturkoglou was tripped by Jair Cunha in the penalty area and then converted the penalty himself. However, Nottingham Forest, having conceded two goals, gradually regained their composure and launched a counterattack against Fenerbahce.

In the 50th minute, Cunha's shot from the right side of the penalty area was saved by Tarik Cetin, and Nicolas Dominguez's follow-up shot from outside the box also went wide. In the 68th minute, Ola Aina delivered a cross from the right wing, and the unmarked Callum Hudson-Odoi calmly slotted the ball low to pull one back for Forest. Neither side managed to score, and the final score remained 1-2.

Image source: Internet