Nottingham Forest of England defender, Ola Aina got off his club’s bench in the 46th minute and got a 68th minute assist to help them cruise over Fenerbahçe of Turkey in the UEFA Europa League.
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Sports247 reports that, although Aina and his side lost the game 2-1 at home on Thursday night, they moved into the round of 16 courtesy a 4-2 aggregate score, having won the first leg 3-0 last week in Istanbul.
While Aina’s Nigerian compatriot, Taiwo Awoniyi was not dressed for the dicey encounter at City Ground, Forest survived a scare from Fenerbahce to book a spot in Friday’s draw for the UEL’s last-16.
Forest’s new coach, Vitor Pereira had the luxury of rotation for the knockout play-off tie, having already won 3-0 in Istanbul last week, but his players made what should have been a simple task become very hard.
After 45 minutes with no shots on target, high turnovers and losing duels, Pereira made four half-time changes, as he sent on Aina, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Igor Jesus and Ibrahim Sangare to beef up his tactics.
Two of the substitutes then combined, as Aina’s pinpoint cross from the right corner found Hudson-Odoi on the left of Fener’s box, and the speedy forward ran past an opposing defender before hammering home into the far corner.
Relief was palpable around the pitch and home stands, as Forest limped into the hat for Friday’s last-16 draw, from which they will be picked out to face either Real Betis of Spain or FC Midtjylland of Denmark.
