Nottingham striker Chris Wood suffers horrific injury and is substituted
Steven Perez
Dailysports's expert
The Europa League clash between Nottingham Forest and Porto kicked off with a shocking incident that could prove decisive for both teams.
Details: Just seven minutes into the match, Porto defender Jan Bednarek was sent off following a reckless foul that resulted in a serious injury to Forest's leading striker, Chris Wood.
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The scene was terrifying: in a battle for the ball, Bednarek lunged in with a straight leg, crashing into the New Zealand forward's knee. After VAR intervention and a video review, the referee didn’t hesitate to show the Polish defender a straight red card.
But for Nottingham, there was little consolation — Chris Wood could not continue. Broadcast footage clearly showed deep lacerations and stud marks on the striker’s knee as he was helped off the pitch by medical staff. He was replaced by Brazilian forward Igor Jesus.
Notably, just before the substitution, the English club took advantage of their numerical superiority, opening the scoring through Morgan Gibbs-White.
Reminder: Arsenal are trying to hijack Nottingham midfielder Elliot Anderson’s move to Manchester City.