Vitor Pereira must make ruthless Stefan Ortega call for Europa League second leg, despite latest Nottingham Forest evidence
Vitor Pereira must put fairness to one side when it comes to selecting his starting goalkeeper for the second leg of Nottingham Forest’s Europa League semi-final against Aston Villa.
The Reds are heading into next week’s clash at Villa Park with a crucial one-goal deficit, after Chris Wood’s second-half penalty saw them emerge victorious from a nervy opening encounter at the City Ground.
Stefan Ortega was handed the responsibility between the posts for the East Midlands outfit, and he responded to the faith that the manager showed in him with an assured performance.
The German made four saves on his way to an invaluable clean sheet, as he worked excellently to backstop a defence that was without Murillo due to injury.
Forest’s victory over Villa in the opening leg has piled the pressure on their opponents heading into the second meeting, and that could see Pereira’s men face a barrage away from home next week.
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VISIT THE FOREST MATCH HUBVitor Pereira must play his most experienced goalkeeper vs Aston Villa
Forest have a trip to Stamford Bridge to contend with in the Premier League on Monday, but attention will surely have already turned towards their all-important trip to Villa Park next Thursday.
They are now within touching distance of a major European final, and this is the time for Pereira to earn his coin with some ruthless selection decisions.
| Stats | Ortega | Sels |
| Apps | 3 | 26 |
| Clean Sheets | 1 | 7 |
| Save Percentage | 66.7% | 70.3% |
| Saves per 90 | 2.67 | 3.04 |
| Goals Prevented | 1.01 | -0.48 |
| Goals Conceded per 90 | 1.33 | 1.29 |
Ortega has guided his team through the knockout rounds of the Europa League since he joined from Manchester City in January, and has never looked like letting his teammates down at any stage of the journey.
However, at this stage, Pereira surely has to be brave enough to drop him to the bench to make way for the veteran Matz Sels, who has saved Forest time and again in the league.
The 34-year-old Belgian is more experienced than his counterpart and is clearly viewed as the stronger goalkeeper, given that he remains the unquestionable number one when it comes to the league.
With that in mind, the brave call could be the right one for Pereira in this instance, especially since his team could face an onslaught from a Villa side that have nothing to lose next week.
It would undoubtedly be harsh on Ortega after the way that he has performed, but Pereira would surely rather deal with that than the potential regret if his team were knocked out.
Elliot Anderson lucky to be playing for Nottingham Forest in second leg
Ex-FIFA referee and former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett told Football Insider on Thursday night that Forest should have been down to 10 men after Elliot Anderson’s challenge on Ollie Watkins in the first half.
The Forest midfielder lunged into his England teammate with a high challenge and appeared to plant his studs into the ankle of his opponent.
Hackett deemed the tackle to be “reckless” and made with “excessive force” as he made it clear that he felt it constituted enough for a red card to be shown for serious foul play.
However, referee Joao Pinheiro was unmoved during the game, while the VAR team also saw no need to take further action on the incident, much to the frustration of Villa and Unai Emery.
Anderson will undoubtedly be a key figure for Forest in the second leg, but he is perhaps lucky to have avoided being suspended for it.
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