Vítor Pereira made a positive impact on Thursday in his first game in charge of Nottingham Forest, leading them to a 3-0 rout at Fenerbahçe in the first leg of their Europa League playoff.
Two Brazilians, defender Murillo and forward Igor Jesus, scored for the English team, as did captain Morgan Gibbs-White, to leave Forest in control of the tie heading into the second leg at the City Ground.
Meanwhile, Martin O’Neill did not have much to celebrate in the 1,000th match of his managerial career as his Celtic team lost 4-1 at home to Stuttgart.
Viktoria Pilsen, the only unbeaten team in the league stage, remained undefeated after a late draw earned them a 2-2 draw against Panathinaikos in Athens.
In Thessaloniki, PAOK fell 2-1 to Celta Vigo with goals from Iago Aspas and Williot Swedberg, in a revenge of the Greek team’s 3-1 defeat against the Spanish team in the league phase.
Zakaria El Ouahdi scored twice and Bryan Heynen added another goal for Genk, who beat Dinamo 3-1 in Zagreb.
Lille was surprised 1-0 at home by Red Star Belgrade and Ludogorets beat Ferencváros 2-1.
In Norway, Argentine striker Santiago Castro scored Bologna’s winning goal from a tight angle to secure a 1-0 win over Brann.
As in the Champions League, the top eight finishers in the league stage automatically advanced to the round of 16. The teams placed from ninth to 24th compete in a two-legged playoff.
The return matches are scheduled for next Thursday.
Pereira’s promising debut
Pereira on Sunday became Nottingham Forest’s fourth manager in a turbulent season. He replaced Sean Dyche, who was fired after being in charge for just 114 days.
This was his first game in charge before hosting defending champion Liverpool on Sunday. Forest are 17th in the Premier League and one place above the relegation zone.
Murillo received a pass from Elliot Anderson and fired a powerful shot from outside the area that deflected slightly off defender Milan Škriniar before slamming into the goal in the 21st minute.
Jesus extended the lead with a header shortly before half-time from a corner kick to reach seven goals in the league.
The Brazilian forward assisted on Gibbs-White’s third goal in the second half.
Pereira is in his second job as a coach this season. In November, Wolverhampton fired the Portuguese tactician after a winless start to the Premier League season.
Celebration ruined
In front of a full Celtic Park, interim manager O’Neill had a night to forget.
Bilal El Khannouss gave the visitors an early lead, which was canceled out by Benjamin Nygren, who eluded goalkeeper Alexander Nübel to equalize.
Khannouss restored a one-goal lead for the Bundesliga side with a header, his fifth goal in second-tier European competition.
Celtic looked more dangerous in attack in the second half, but Stuttgart increased the lead with a shot from Jamie Leweling from outside the area and another from substitute Tiago Tomás in added time.
O’Neill, 73, has managed Celtic in 301 of his 1,000 games as a professional manager, having won three league titles during his first spell in charge between 2000-05. He is in his second spell as interim manager this season, and had lost just once in his previous 18 games in all competitions.
He has also managed Norwich, Leicester, Aston Villa, Sunderland, Nottingham Forest and the Irish national team.
Frenan al Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace had to settle for a 1-1 draw away to Zrinjski Mostar in Bosnia in the Conference League, the third-tier tournament. Ismaïla Sarr put the English team ahead 1-0, but Karlo Abramović rescued the tie for the Bosnian champions.
Fiorentina — a two-time finalist — took Poland to a 3-0 victory over Jagiellonia Bialystok.
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