Football Tracker: Forest edge Villa in first leg of Europa League semi, Palace win in UECL

[h2]Thursday's highlights:[/h2][p]• Nottingham Forest edged Aston Villa in the first leg of a blockbuster all-Premier League semi-final in the Europa League, with Chris Wood scoring from the spot to give the hosts a narrow win[/p][p]• In the other Europa League semi-final first leg, Portugal's Braga claimed a last-gasp win on home turf against Freiburg, with Mario Dorgeles making it 2-1 in the 92nd minute.[/p][p]• Crystal Palace put one foot in the Conference League final, winning 3-1 away to Shakhtar Donetsk, while hosts Rayo Vallecano will take a 1-0 lead to Strasbourg after drawing first blood against their French opponents in Spain[/p][h2]Europa League semi-finals:[/h2][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/braga-dpUer7ht/freiburg-fiEQZ7C7/?mid=0xDcD005"]Braga 2-1 Freiburg[/a][/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/aston-villa-W00wmLO0/nottingham-UsushcZr/?mid=KbBsHr1t"]Nottingham Forest 1-0 Aston Villa[/a][/b][/p][h2]Conference League semi-finals:[/h2][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/rayo-vallecano-8bcjFy6O/strasbourg-nP6UzIU1/?mid=dMXPb1oC"]Rayo Vallecano 1-0 Strasbourg[/a][/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/crystal-palace-AovF1Mia/shakhtar-donetsk-4ENWX2OA/?mid=fJED9IaU"]Shakhtar Donetsk 1-3 Crystal Palace[/a][/b][/p][h2]Key updates to keep you informed:[/h2][p][b]23:35 CET - [/b]That's all from us this evening, but be sure to return next week as the semi-finals continue in the Europa League and Conference League![/p][p][b]23:06 CET - [/b]Rayo Vallecano too will take a one-goal lead to their opponent's ground, with the LaLiga side holding on to beat Strasbourg 1-0.[/p][embed guid="bf329853-c39d-472b-95f8-bcc751fcf4a4" url="https://x.com/Flashscorecom/status/2049958082411725169" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]23:01 CET - [/b]There was late drama in Portugal, where [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bocha-maho/AovdDZl1/"]Mario Dorgeles[/a] scored a stoppage-time winner for Braga to leave their tie with Freiburg finely poised ahead of the return leg in Germany.[/p][p][b]22:56 CET - [/b]Forest will take a one-goal advantage to Villa Park next week, with Wood's penalty being the difference between them and Aston Villa tonight in an affair that the hosts edged.[/p][p]Watching it, you wouldn't have guessed that they were 16th in the Premier League and Villa were fifth.[/p][p][b]22:50 CET - [/b]Crystal Palace have one foot in the Conference League final, with the Eagles beating Shakhtar 3-1 after a late goal from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/larsen-jorgen/lQ5EYyWg/"]Jorgen Strand Larsen[/a], meaning they just need to avoid losing by two goals or more in London next week.[/p][p]It's harsh on Arda Turan's side, who dominated possession throughout the game, but Palace were just able to create the bigger openings.[/p][image alt="Shakhtar Donetsk vs Crystal Palace match stats" id="08abc759-d840-4465-878a-9f893864b536" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="f659b4c6-c2de-4718-b902-1f5452b5eb99" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b]22:28 CET - [/b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wood-chris/Cp7L7Gro/"]Chris Wood[/a] opens the scoring in Nottingham! The New Zealander has made no mistake from the spot following a handball from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/digne-lucas/v9Ux4sua/"]Lucas Digne[/a], smashing the ball into the top corner.[/p][embed guid="fd4a7dad-381e-45fb-bf27-fc5535f266cc" url="https://x.com/EuropaLeague/status/2049950633722073245" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]22:19 CET - [/b]Palace have retaken the lead through [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kamada-daichi/bayITLyE/"]Daichi Kamada[/a], who has pounced on a loose ball and fired in with his left foot. This is turning into quite the battle.[/p][p]There's been a goal in the other Conference League semi-final too, where [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alemao/ljVRztTj/"]Alemao[/a] has put hosts Rayo Vallecano ahead against Strasbourg.[/p][p][b]22:06 CET - [/b]Shakhtar strike back! Just as Palace made a flying start to the first half, the hosts have made a flying start to the second, drawing level courtesy of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ocheretko-oleg/ChUpVP3k/"]Oleg Ocheretko[/a], with the young midfielder turning in a corner.[/p][p][b]21:49 CET - [/b]That's that for the first halves of tonight's matches, and most of the drama so far has taken place in Braga, where the hosts missed a penalty and the chance to retake the lead just before the break.[/p][p]The all-Premier League affair in Nottingham has been cagey, with Forest looking more likely to score than Villa but neither side creating much in the way of clear-cut chances.[/p][image alt="Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa first-half momentum" id="350dc69c-8c4f-49ad-9616-3397a59b4f33" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="ce8d3b7f-32e2-4af7-8b77-343cb3eaf966" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b]21:26 CET - [/b]It's 1-1 after a fast start in Portugal, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tiknaz-demir-ege/p0StIVQQ/"]Demir Ege Tiknaz[/a] giving Braga the lead but Freiburg icon [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/grifo-vincenzo/jBePSV5m/"]Vincenzo Grifo[/a] equalising just eight minutes later.[/p][p][b]21:03 CET - [/b]Crystal Palace come flying out of the blocks! [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sarr-ismaila/ll2uTDkB/"]Ismaila Sarr[/a] has put them ahead against Shakhtar after just 21 seconds![/p][image alt="Sarr's opener" id="73d37594-5adc-44ef-951e-7ac5365e0617" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform (REUTERS/Kacper Pempel)" guid="b4e9391b-4499-4b4d-abb9-b13f2285661f" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b]20:32 CET - [/b]Over in the Conference League, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/santos-yeremi/8fnHDvMe/"]Yeremy Pino[/a] replaces [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/johnson-brennan/6XhWIWPP/"]Brennan Johnson[/a] for Crystal Palace, while Shakhtar Donetsk line up with seven Brazilians.[/p][p]Strasbourg are without [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/barco-valentin/MXX0tUs3/"]Valentin Barco[/a], who's suspended for their clash with Rayo Vallecano, but key men [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/emegha-emanuel/by8Xcffd/"]Emanuel Emegha[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/enciso-julio/f19S9MEi/"]Julio Enciso[/a] both start.[/p][p][b]20:23 CET - [/b]Here's how Braga and Freiburg line up in Portugal for the other of tonight's Europa League semi-final first legs:[/p][image alt="Braga vs Freiburg starting XIs" id="90c914d1-b780-4195-b61c-a31a3fa437b8" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="1d635a47-0986-4be2-b319-8cc1dc8e3b8a" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p][b]20:00 CET - [/b]We're now just an hour from tonight's matches, meaning that the starting XIs are coming in.[/p][p]A big boost for Aston Villa is the return of midfielder [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/onana-amadou/roId3gPf/"]Amadou Onana[/a], who was a doubt having missed their weekend clash through injury.[/p][p]Nottingham Forest have made three changes from the side that thrashed Sunderland, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ortega-stefan/ngKMs4Vf/"]Stefan Ortega[/a] replacing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sels-matz/Qqo54dB7/"]Matz Sels[/a] in goal and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/morato/M1x2dIqA/"]Morato[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dominguez-nicolas/A7jPNAQT/"]Nicolas Dominguez[/a] coming in for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cunha/IkllpdnC/"]Jair Cunha[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sangare-ibrahim/0zOKXsla/"]Ibrahim Sangare[/a], who both aren't fit enough to play.[/p][image alt="Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa starting XIs" id="f2c1896d-a180-48e1-9d8a-38d561b24fd7" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="2c990d1d-f67e-49a4-b923-f89cec55eb78" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p][b]17:30 CET - [/b]Hello, and welcome to our coverage of Thursday's semi-final first legs across the Europa League and Conference League! It's been a long and winding road in both competitions this season until now, but here we are, with just four teams standing in each tournament.[/p][embed guid="d4dc19a5-3b8b-46bd-9912-3006d271eb5b" url="https://x.com/EuropaLeague/status/2048689357595488530" social-type="twitter" /][p]For all eight sides in action, just two matches separate them from appearing in a major European final, and winning either tournament would also secure European football next season. There simply couldn't be more at stake across this evening and next Thursday, when the second legs take place.[/p][p]In the Europa League, Premier League foes [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/nottingham/UsushcZr/"]Nottingham Forest[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aston-villa/W00wmLO0/"]Aston Villa[/a] are going head-to-head in one semi-final, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/braga/dpUer7ht/"]Braga[/a] taking on [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/freiburg/fiEQZ7C7/"]Freiburg[/a] in the other.[/p][embed guid="01557f3a-16b2-4b9f-a63a-fb81d602ac64" url="https://x.com/Conf_League/status/2049761170039644277" social-type="twitter" /][p]Over in the Conference League, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/crystal-palace/AovF1Mia/"]Crystal Palace[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/shakhtar/4ENWX2OA/"]Shakhtar Donetsk[/a] meet on one side of the semis, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/rayo-vallecano/8bcjFy6O/"]Rayo Vallecano[/a] tackling [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/strasbourg/nP6UzIU1/"]Strasbourg[/a] on the other side. [/p][p]It's impossible to call any of those matchups, so may the best teams progress![/p]