Nottingham Forest will be kicking themselves after a dominant display at the City Ground ended in a frustrating 1-0 defeat to Midtjylland in their Europa League last-16 first leg.
Despite controlling large spells of the match and carving out chance after chance, Forest simply couldn’t find the net.
The weather certainly didn’t help matters, with torrential rain and fierce winds making conditions miserable for everyone on the pitch.
It was one of those nights where everything seemed to go against the home side, who now face an uphill battle in Denmark next week to keep their European dreams alive.
Cho Gue-Sung dealt a brutal blow to Nottingham Forest’s Europa League hopes
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Elliot Anderson was absolutely brilliant in the middle of the park, pulling the strings and linking up beautifully with the attack.
The Danish visitors simply couldn’t escape their own half as Forest piled on the pressure.
The chances kept coming throughout a one-sided opening 45 minutes, with Anderson, Igor Jesus, Ola Aina and Omari Hutchinson all forcing saves from goalkeeper Elias Olafsson.
It really should have been two or three nil by the break.
Early on, Murillo had to clear a Junior Brumado header off the line, but that was about as threatening as Midtjylland got before half-time.
Nottingham Forest face an uphill struggle to progress in the Europa League
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Vitor Pereira made a tactical tweak at the break, switching to a back four, and it pushed Midtjylland even deeper into their own territory.
The opportunities kept flowing, though Aina was desperately unlucky when his close-range effort was blocked by his own teammate Morgan Gibbs-White.
Substitute Valdemar Byskov rattled the crossbar with a left-footed strike in a rare venture forward for the visitors.
Nicolas Dominguez and Jesus both squandered further openings as the rain finally eased.
Then came the sucker punch.
Cho Gue-Sung was given far too much room to meet a cross, and his header handed the Danish side a precious away goal heading into next week’s second leg.
Over at Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace endured their own frustrating evening, drawing 0-0 with AEK Larnaca in the Conference League last-16 first leg.
Crystal Palace could only muster a draw against AEK Larnaca
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The FA Cup holders enjoyed over 70 per cent possession and fired 13 shots at goal, but just couldn’t break through.
Goalkeeper Zlatan Alomerovic was in inspired form, producing two stunning saves to deny Evann Guessand and Tyrick Mitchell.
The Cypriot side, who only appointed a new manager on Monday, didn’t manage a single shot in the first half.
Jean-Philippe Mateta came on for the final 15 minutes in his first appearance since a failed January move to AC Milan, greeted by jeers from some Palace supporters.
