--- source: thedugout.football generated: 2026-08-01T14:04:09.925Z last_updated: 2026-07-31T17:00:00+00:00 data_provider: API-Football canonical: https://thedugout.football/clubs/nottingham-forest/news/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubm90dGluZ2hhbXBvc3QuY29tL3Nwb3J0L2Zvb3RiYWxsL21hdGNoLXJlcG9ydHMvbm90dGluZ2hhbS1mb3Jlc3QtbGl2ZS11cGRhdGVzLXNwb3J0aW5nLTExMDg3NzE1 --- # Sporting 4 Nottingham Forest 1 - Reds suffer first pre-season defeat - **Source:** - **Published:** 31 Jul - **Club:** Nottingham Forest - **Original URL:** https://www.nottinghampost.com/sport/football/match-reports/nottingham-forest-live-updates-sporting-11087715 A Reds team had played against Portimonense SAD in a behind closed doors match earlier in the day. Goals from Taiwo Awoniyi and Xaver Schlager clinched a 2-1 win for Oliver Glasner’s side. They took to the Estadio Algarve pitch looking to make it five unbeaten in pre-season, and it didn’t take them long to take the lead - just two minutes in fact. Morgan Gibbs-White had played a lovely through-ball for Chris Wood to run on to, and when the New Zealand international’s effort was parried Igor Jesus was on hand to poke home. Matz Sels was called into action to deny Rodrigo Zalazar soon after, then did the same to Goncalo Inacio as the quarter-hour approached. But from the resulting corner the Sporting man beat Chris Wood in the air to level with 14 minutes on the clock. It was a sloppy goal for Forest to concede but they continued to look dangerous going forward before the break, playing some lovely football. Indeed, set-pieces proved to be their opponents’ greatest threat in the opening 45 minutes. Wood had a few opportunities to restore the Reds’ lead after the restart but couldn’t quite make the most of them. His effort from a corner was blocked, then he headed a Neco Williams cross wide and was unable to finish from a tight angle after a lucky bounce from closing down the goalkeeper. Sels thwarted Fotis Ioannidis before the hour but he could do little about Issa Doumbia’s strike in the 61st minute. Rafael Nel put a looping header past the Belgian to make it two goals in the space of four minutes for Sporting. Nel grabbed his second of the evening in the closing minutes as Glasner’s men were toppled for the first time this summer. New Updates31st Jul21:55 BSTPlayer ratingsNottingham Forest fell to their first defeat of pre-season as their 12-day stay in Portugal ended with a 4-1 loss to Sporting Lisbon. A Reds team had played against Portimonense SAD in a behind closed doors match earlier in the day. Goals from Taiwo Awoniyi and Xaver Schlager clinched a 2-1 win for Oliver Glasner’s side. They took to the Estadio Algarve pitch looking to make it five unbeaten in pre-season, and it didn’t take them long to take the lead - just two minutes in fact. Morgan Gibbs-White had played a lovely through-ball for Chris Wood to run on to, and when the New Zealand international’s effort was parried Igor Jesus was on hand to poke home. Matz Sels was called into action to deny Rodrigo Zalazar soon after, then did the same to Goncalo Inacio as the quarter-hour approached. But from the resulting corner the Sporting man beat Chris Wood in the air to level with 14 minutes on the clock. It was a sloppy goal for Forest to concede but they continued to look dangerous going forward before the break, playing some lovely football. Indeed, set-pieces proved to be their opponents’ greatest threat in the opening 45 minutes. Wood had a few opportunities to restore the Reds’ lead after the restart but couldn’t quite make the most of them. His effort from a corner was blocked, then he headed a Neco Williams cross wide and was unable to finish from a tight angle after a lucky bounce from closing down the goalkeeper. Sels thwarted Fotis Ioannidis before the hour but he could do little about Issa Doumbia’s strike in the 61st minute. Rafael Nel put a looping header past the Belgian to make it two goals in the space of four minutes for Sporting. Nel grabbed his second of the evening in the closing minutes as Glasner’s men were toppled for the first time this summer. Here’s how Reds reporter Sarah Clapson rated the Forest players against Sporting… Read more, here CommentsSarah Clapson31st Jul21:31 BSTGOALIt's 4-1. Nel with his second of the evening. Lovely passing by Sporting, but too much time and space for the finish. CommentsSarah Clapson31st Jul21:24 BST76minsFifteen minutes to go. Forest yet to make a change. Second half has been very different to the first. Sporting are certainly further along in their preparations than the Reds are. Goals conceded shows there is still plenty to work on. CommentsSarah Clapson‌31st Jul21:14 BSTGOALIt's 3-1 to Sporting. Two goals in quick succession for them takes the game away from Forest. Abbott caught out again for this one. Was a delighftul (and clever) assist from Doumbia, then Sels was beaten by Nel's looping header CommentsSarah Clapson31st Jul21:09 BSTGOALSporting in front. Doumbia makes it 2-1 to the Portuguese side. Took his goal well after cutting inside and getting the better of Abbott. CommentsSarah Clapson31st Jul21:06 BST58minsSels called into action again. Another solid save from the Belgian. Perhaps a bit of tiredness creeping in at the back as Forest were caught out there. A nice move by Sporting but Ioannidis was left in far too much space to latch on to the cutback CommentsSarah Clapson‌31st Jul21:00 BST52MINSWood again! First the New Zealander heads wide a Williams cross, then he almost gets lucky when he closes down the goalkeeper. The ball bounced for him but he had to take his shot first time from an angle and it proved to be too tight. Few openings for the Reds at the start of this second half CommentsSarah Clapson31st Jul20:57 BSTARGH!Wood with a chance to restore Forest's lead. Great corner from McAtee found its way to the front man at the far post. He had two bites of the cherry as he tried to swing the ball in but was blocked both times. Forest starting on the front foot, just as they did in the first half CommentsSarah Clapson31st Jul20:53 BSTHere we goSecond half is up and running in Portugal. All square at 1-1 after the first half. Expecting some of the Forest XI to play the full 90 minutes as they build up their minutes. No changes at the break and can't see there being many for the Reds throughout the whole game CommentsSarah Clapson‌31st Jul20:34 BSTHalf-timeThat's that for the first half. It is level at the break, with Jesus' very early opener having been cancelled out. Forest have played some delightful football without creating too many chances aside from the goal. Sels made a couple of saves prior to the equaliser. Overall, been a good watch CommentsSarah Clapson31st Jul20:27 BST41minsSporting have been able to whip some dangerous balls in from set-pieces. Have caused Forest a few problems with them, including for the equaliser. Interesting that Williams is on the right and Aina on the left this evening. Aina copped a lot of Glasner's yelling from the touchline against Blackburn Rovers last week. CommentsSarah Clapson31st Jul20:21 BSTJesus celebratesIgor Jesus celebrates opening the scoring for the Reds. CommentsSarah Clapson‌31st Jul20:15 BST28MINSA bit of a break in play as Jesus receives some treatment. He took a bit of a whack. Seemed like it was just a bit painful rather than anything too concerning. He is back up and involved now. He's been superb so far this summer. Last thing any team wants in pre-season is injuries but looks like he will be OK CommentsSarah Clapson31st Jul20:06 BST19minsMGW has a go from some way out. Not this time, though. Forest are looking good going forward. Playing some lovely football. They will be frustrated with the goal conceded from a corner. Adding some height to the squad is a priority during the transfer window, and that perhaps underlines why - even if it was Wood who was the one caught out CommentsSarah Clapson31st Jul20:01 BSTGOALIt's 1-1 Sporting equalise through Inecio. Header from a corner. Sels had made another good save before that, from Inecio, but the Reds were caught out from the resulting flag-kick CommentsSarah Clapson‌31st Jul19:53 BSTSAVESels called into action. A bending effort from Zalazar from the edge of the area. Wasn't an easy one to deal with but Sels managed to get it away. Had been a bright start from Forest but that was a decent strike CommentsSarah Clapson31st Jul19:49 BSTGOALJESUS! Forest 1-0 up two minutes in. The Brazilian is on fire! Lovely ball through from MGW to Wood, who was onside. The New Zealander got a shot away from an angle, keeper parried and Jesus was on hand to tap it in CommentsSarah Clapson31st Jul19:47 BSTHere we goUp and running in tonight's pre-season friendly at the impressive Estadio Algarve. A good crowd in place. It's a step up in opposition for Forest so interesting to see how they get on against Sporting. Looks like it is McAtee in the deeper role CommentsSarah Clapson‌31st Jul19:26 BSTNo DiomandeDiomande is not involved! We wait to see whether there are any developments on the transfer front but hopefully that is a positive sign! Not long now until kick-off at the Estadio Algarve. Forest are unbeaten in pre-season so far. Can they keep that going? CommentsSarah Clapson31st Jul18:46 BSTThe oppositionNot seen how Sporting will line up yet but the big question heading into tonight's game surrounds Ousmane Diomande. Forest have been closing in on a deal for the defender. They haven't got a move for him over the line in time for him to wear the Garibaldi tonight, but it remains to be seen whether he will feature for Sporting. Some suggestion from Portuguese press that he will not be involved for them - which suggests his future is close to being sorted (appreciate that's what has been said for the best part of a couple of weeks now!) CommentsSarah Clapson31st Jul18:37 BSTTeam newsThe Forest team news is in! Sels; Abbott, Milenkovic, Jair; Williams, Dominguez, McAtee, Aina; Gibbs-White, Jesus; Wood. Subs: John, Bott, Richards, Bakwa, McDonnell, Nwosu. Forest have already played today, hence the shortage of subs. Glasner sharing the minutes around. It is a strong XI, though. Could be McAtee or Gibbs-White in the deeper role alongside Dominguez. McAtee has played that role already in pre-season. CommentsSarah Clapson‌31st Jul18:00 BSTTransfer dilemmasForest have two countdowns on the go as the beginning of a new month nears. The start of the 2026/27 season is barely three weeks away, with Leeds United visiting the City Ground for the Reds’ Premier League opener on August 22. And beyond that, there is not long to go until the summer transfer window closes. Plenty of work on and off the pitch has been done during Forest’s 12-day training camp in Portugal which will come to an end this evening (Friday). Oliver Glasner’s side will return to the UK to continue their preparations after tonight’s friendly against Sporting Lisbon (7.45pm kick-off). The transfer graft will continue, too. Clubs have until 11pm on September 1 to get deals done, leaving little more than a month remaining to wrap up any ins and outs. Read more, here CommentsSarah Clapson31st Jul18:00 BSTKeep up to date with the latest Forest newsDelivered straight to your inbox, our regular email bulletins feature all the latest Forest news, views, gossip, opinion and transfer updates. Social Media: You can also get all the latest updates by following us on social media here Facebook and X WhatsApp: You can also get all your favourite content from the Nottingham Post's Forest team on WhatsApp. Click here to sign up for breaking updates about the biggest stories in and around the club. App: We also have a free app which you can download. It is always up-to-date with the latest Forest news. You can personalise the content you see by selecting Nottingham Forest as one of your designated topics. You can get it from Apple here and for Android here. Delivered straight to your inbox, our regular email bulletins feature all the latest Forest news, views, gossip, opinion and transfer updates. Social Media: You can also get all the latest updates by following us on social media here Facebook and X WhatsApp: You can also get all your favourite content from the Nottingham Post's Forest team on WhatsApp. Click here to sign up for breaking updates about the biggest stories in and around the club. App: We also have a free app which you can download. It is always up-to-date with the latest Forest news. You can personalise the content you see by selecting Nottingham Forest as one of your designated topics. You can get it from Apple here and for Android here. CommentsSarah Clapson31st Jul18:00 BSTGood eveningHello and welcome to tonight's match blog! Forest take on Sporting at the Estadio Algarve in their fifth friendly of pre-season this evening (7.45pm kick-off). It will bring an end to their 12-day training camp in Portugal. Spending time abroad with his squad has been invaluable for new head coach Oliver Glasner. He has been determined to make the most of it. The Reds are unbeaten so far this summer. Can they keep that run going tonight?