Europa League today 24/10: Aston Villa causes shock, Nottingham Forest wins comfortably

Nottingham Forest achieved their first European win since 1996, as Viktoria Plzeň and Go Ahead Eagles pulled off significant upsets with victories in the third round of the UEFA Europa League group matches.

Nottingham Forest 2-0 Porto

New coach Sean Dyche made a perfect debut by guiding Nottingham Forest to their first European win, thanks to two successful penalties that handed Porto their first defeat of the season. The home side took the lead in the 20th minute when captain Morgan Gibbs-White calmly finished into the low corner following a handball by Jan Bednarek in the penalty area.

Porto barely threatened Matz Sels' goal and struggled further when Igor Jesus sealed the 2-0 win in the 77th minute from the penalty spot. The Brazilian striker coolly placed the ball down the middle after Martim Fernandes fouled Nicolò Savona inside the box.

Roma 1-2 Viktoria Plzeň

Two goals within two minutes stunned Roma, leading to their second consecutive home defeat in the Europa League, against a courageous Viktoria Plzeň side. The visitors dominated early in the first half with strikes from Prince Kwabena Adu and Cheick Souaré.

Paulo Dybala reignited Roma's hopes with a successful penalty — also marking his 200th career goal. However, Plzeň's defense held firm for the remainder of the match, giving new coach Martin Hyský a dream start in European competition.

Go Ahead Eagles 2-1 Aston Villa

Captain Mats Deijl became the hero by scoring the winning goal, securing Go Ahead Eagles' second consecutive comeback victory. In the 4th minute, striker Evann Guessand opened the scoring for Aston Villa but was soon denied one-on-one by goalkeeper Jari De Busser.

In the 42nd minute, Mathis Suray scored Go Ahead Eagles' first home goal in the Europa League with a delicate chip inside the box, before right-back Deijl completed the comeback with a composed finish in the 61st minute. Unfortunately for Villa, Emiliano Buendía missed a penalty in the 79th minute, leaving the English club stuck at 6 points.

Fenerbahçe 1-0 Stuttgart

Kerem Aktürkoğlu's successful penalty in the first half secured Fenerbahçe's second consecutive home win in the group stage. The Turkish winger calmly deceived Stuttgart's goalkeeper Alexander Nübel to score his third goal of this Europa League season, moving to the top of the scoring charts.

The match featured few clear chances, with Stuttgart's best opportunity missed by Deniz Undav in the 82nd minute when he shot wide from a good position, leaving the German side with just 3 points from 3 games.

Other notable matches

• New coach Danny Röhl failed to improve Rangers' form as the Scottish team suffered their third straight Europa League defeat. Goals from Emil Kornvig, Jacob Sørensen, and Noah Holm helped Brann secure a convincing win.
• Lyon continued their impressive run with three perfect wins and no goals conceded, thanks to an early goal by Corentin Tolisso and a beautiful curling shot by Afonso Moreira late in the game against Basel.
• Meanwhile, Celtic earned their first win this Europa League season with two goals in four minutes during the second half by Liam Scales and Benjamin Nygren, after Tomi Horvat had opened the scoring for Sturm Graz with a stunning long-range strike.