On the night Chris Wood returned from six months on the sidelines, a comical own goal by the Porto defender Martim Fernandes earned Nottingham Forest a draw and feeling optimistic of advancing to the Europa League semi-finals.
The New Zealand striker was withdrawn as anticipated at the interval, Vítor Pereira mindful of the bigger picture, with Sunday’s home match with Aston Villa the first of seven remaining matches to preserve their Premier League status.
This all remains a balancing act for Pereira, back here in the red corner for the first time since guiding Porto to successive league titles.
Forest arrived in northern Portugal empowered by the fact that Wood was among their squad. Three weeks ago he travelled with the Forest team to north London for their 3-0 triumph at Tottenham, their previous match, but this was a case of on-pitch business.
Pereira handed Wood a starting berth, his first appearance for 173 days. In that time he has undergone knee surgery, missed 34 matches and Forest have dispensed with two managers. All the while Wood remains the last Forest striker to score at the City Ground and the sight of his name on the team sheet was a major plus.
