Real Betis 2-2 Nottingham Forest: Europa League Player Ratings and Match Highlights

Real Betis and Nottingham Forest drew 2-2 in the UEFA Europa League on Wednesday evening.

It took just 15 minutes for the deadlock to be broken, and it was broken by the hosts. The goal came from experienced striker Cedric Bakambu, but both Valentin Gomez and Antony played big parts in the goal as well. The centre-back, Gomez, played an excellent ball over the top of the Nottingham Forest defence, which Bakambu chased, but he was intercepted. After losing the ball, Antony found himself in possession and played the ball back to the feet of Bakambu, who set his feet well and fired his shot high into the back of the net to give his side an early lead.

Betis’ lead lasted just three minutes, as Igor Jesus, on his European debut, scored a tap-in to square things up for his side. Just like Betis’ opening goal, this goal from Forest was also very well-worked, and they had some great build-up play, eventually finding Morgan Gibbs-White on the right flank, who put in a brilliant low cross into the box and at the end of it was the Brazilian who just had to tap it home from very close range.

Just five minutes after scoring the equalising goal, Jesus scored yet again and put Forest into the lead. The goal was as simple as you can ever get, as Douglas Luiz put a brilliant cross into the box from a corner, and the Brazilian rose brilliantly and guided his header into the bottom corner past Pau Lopez to completely turn the game around after a disappointing start, going behind after just 15 minutes.

To add to the exciting and hectic start to the match, Jesus was at the centre of conversation yet again, but this time not for something good. The Brazilian was maybe a bit too hyped up and eager after scoring an early brace, and he went flying into one of the Betis players with a crunching tackle. For a moment, his heart would’ve sunk as there was a lengthy VAR review looking into his challenge, but upon review, his punishment remained a yellow card.

After Forest took the lead, for the rest of the first half, they went on to completely dominate the match, and could’ve scored a few more goals, especially the chance which Callum Hudson-Odoi squandered from just a few yards out, but to be fair to the winger, the box was quite congested and he had several players around him when the ball dropped to him.

The first half came to a close with Forest in a well-deserved 2-1 lead away from home.

Although Forest completely dominated the first half from the moment they scored, Betis came out for the second half flying and really put the English side under pressure to protect their lead. Manuel Pellegrini’s three half-time substitutions played a huge part in the momentum switch, and his side went close to scoring an equaliser on several occasions, whilst being defensively solid at the back, rarely giving Forest a chance at goal.

In the 85th minute, Betis scored a much-deserved equalising goal to make it 2-2. The hosts played some brilliant football and eventually got into the box with Marc Roca, and the Spaniard put in an excellent ball across the goal, and to meet it was Antony. The Brazilian winger converted his finish into the back of the net with his weaker right foot, and he and his Betis teammates ran back to the centre circle to pursue a winning goal.

Antony’s late goal was the last significant action of the match, and the points were shared in a 2-2 draw in Spain.

Real Betis Player Ratings

GK: Pau Lopez – 6/10

Produced a few important saves and was pretty tidy when asked to play the ball out from the back. The Spaniard may have conceded two goals, but he couldn’t have really done much more to stop them.

RB: Angel Ortiz – 6.5/10

Really struggled to deal with Hudson-Odoi. Although Ortiz was getting run at relentlessly, he stayed in the match, and defensively, he definitely grew as the match went on.

CB: Natan – 7/10

Excellent when playing the ball out from the back, and produced some really important blocks and clearances.

CB: Valentin Gomez – 7.5/10

Just like his centre-back partner, Natan, Gomez was also very good with the ball at his feet and produced some key defensive actions. The Argentinian had a part to play in Betis’ opening goal, as he played a brilliant lofted ball over the top of Forest’s defence to set Bakambu away.

LB: Junior Firpo – 5.5/10

Really struggled to deal with Forest’s right-sided players, especially Gibbs-White. Firpo was taken off at half-time after a pretty poor showing.

CM: Sofyan Amrabat – 7/10

Safe and tidy in possession and worked incredibly hard and pressed well, especially in the second half, which helped Betis get back on top.

CM: Sergi Altimira – 5.5/10

Looked overwhelmed in the midfield at times. The Spaniard struggled to keep up with the pace of the game and was substituted at half-time after an underwhelming first-half showing.

CM: Giovani Lo Celso – 7.5/10

Didn’t really produce anything creatively or in the final third, but put in a really determined performance in the middle of the park and worked incredibly hard, regularly putting in big and important tackles.

RW: Antony – 9/10

Betis’ best player on the night. Antony was a constant threat down the right wing, especially in the second half when his side got on top, and he produced a good assist for Bakambu’s opening goal, as well as a good finish to equalise late on.

ST: Cedric Bakambu – 7.5/10

Took his early goal very well, but outside of that, the experienced forward contributed little to the match and rarely got involved.

LW: Abdessamad Ezzalzouli – 5.5/10

Didn’t see much of the ball at all, and even when he did, he was quite ineffective with it and was sussed out by Williams. The Moroccan was substituted at half-time.

SUB: Ricardo Rodriguez – 6.5/10

Although he didn’t have much significance to do in or out of possession, the experienced defender came on at half-time and calmed the match down for his side, which they desperately needed after a very shaky first half.

SUB: Rodrigo Riquelme – 7/10

Got on the ball plenty of times and made himself a huge threat down the left flank with his pace and trickery.

SUB: Marc Roca – 7.5/10

Played with plenty of energy in the midfield and provided an important assist for Antony’s late goal.

SUB: Juan Hernandez – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Pablo Fornals – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

Nottingham Forest Player Ratings

GK: Matz Sels – 6.5/10

Didn’t really have a single significant save to make during the match, and also never really had anything significant to do with the ball at his feet either.

RB: Neco Williams – 7.5/10

Defensively brilliant and pretty much completely shut down Betis’ left side. Williams didn’t put a foot wrong defensively, and he also carried a threat going forward.

CB: Nikola Milenkovic – 7/10

Very solid at the back and produced some important blocks and clearances, which managed to protect Sels and keep the number of shots he faced to a minimum.

CB: Morato – 6/10

Had a very good first-half showing, but in the second half, he slightly struggled, especially when coming out to the left to help out Zinchenko defensively.

LB: Oleksandr Zinchenko – 7/10

Pretty good in possession of the ball, but seemed to slightly fade as the match went on, which saw him become more defensively suspect.

CM: Ibrahim Sangare – 6.5/10

Had a solid first-half both in and out of possession, but faded in the second half and seemed to struggle with the intensity Betis were playing with.

CM: Douglas Luiz – 7.5/10

Substituted at half-time, but had a very impactful performance. The Brazilian provided a good assist for Jesus’ second goal and was very good both in and out of possession.

CM: Elliot Anderson – 8.5/10

Put in a brilliant, well-rounded midfield performance. Anderson controlled the midfield for large parts of the match and excelled in multiple areas, whether it was getting forward and creating, sitting deep and breaking with the ball or putting in big tackles.

RW: Morgan Gibbs-White – 7/10

Didn’t have anywhere near as much creative influence on the match as he typically does, but he still managed to produce an assist.

ST: Igor Jesus – 9/10 (Man of the Match)

The Brazilian had a pretty much perfect European debut. Jesus scored two important goals in the first half, which turned the momentum of the game in favour of Forest and was a real nuisance for the Betis defenders to deal with.

LW: Callum Hudson-Odoi – 7.5/10

A constant threat down the left flank, and had a really strong partnership going on with Anderson, which caused the Betis defence plenty of problems.

SUB: Dilane Bakwa – 6.5/10

Came on at half-time and played with plenty of energy, but flattered to deceive at times in the final third.

SUB: Arnaud Kalimuendo-Muinga – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Dan Ndoye – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Ryan Yates – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Willy Boly – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.