Buonanotte lands late blow as Forest stumble

If you had told Nottingham Forest fans in August that a point in their penultimate home game of the season would guarantee them European qualification, they would have bitten your hand off.

- Peter Lansley

Now, however, Facundo Buonanotte's late equaliser has spirited Champions League qualification out of their hands.

Qualifying for the Europa League (or Europa Conference) is no mean feat for Nuno Espirito Santo's team but, having been sitting pretty in third place for the middle part of the season, it seems like a comedown now. Certainly that initially seemed to be Evangelos Marinakis's reaction as the Forest owner strode on to the pitch at full time to have a few choice words with his manager, even if it was later pointed out that this was over a substitution debate.

With only one win in their past seven games, including the FA Cup semi-final defeat against Manchester City, Forest's season is in danger of subsiding. And it almost finished even worse for them against their already relegated East Midlands rivals. As the home team threw themselves into all-out attack, Jamie Vardy inspired a breakaway that invited Jeremy Monga, the 15-year-old substitute, to shoot towards the top corner before Matz Sels saved.