Pereira sparks Nottingham Forest to a 3-0 win at Fenerbahçe in the Europa League playoff

By Canadian Press on February 19, 2026.

Vítor Pereira made an impact in his first game in charge, leading Nottingham Forest to a 3-0 victory at Fenerbahçe in the first leg of their Europa League playoff on Thursday.

Defender Murillo, forward Igor Jesus and captain Morgan Gibbs-White scored a goal apiece to put Forest in command ahead of the second leg at the City Ground.

In Thessaloniki, PAOK was beaten 2-1 by Celta Vigo on goals from Iago Aspas and Williot Swedberg in a rematch of the Greek side’s 3-1 loss to the Spanish team in the league phase.

Zakaria El Ouahdi scored twice and Bryan Heynen added one for visiting Genk in a 3-1 victory against Dinamo in Zagreb.

In Norway, Argentine forward Santiago Castro scored the winner for Bologna from a tight angle to secure a 1-0 victory over Brann.

Among late games, Celtic was in action against Stuttgart and Lille faced Red Star Belgrade.

Like in the Champions League, the top eight finishers in the league phase advanced automatically to the last 16. The teams placed from nine to 24 entered a two-leg playoff.

The second leg is scheduled for next Thursday.

Pereira’s promising debut

Pereira became struggling Nottingham Forest’s fourth coach of a turbulent season only on Sunday, replacing Sean Dyche, who was fired after being in charge for just 114 days.

This was his first game in charge ahead of hosting defending champion Liverpool on Sunday as Forest is 17th in the Premier League and one place above the relegation zone.

Murillo received a pass from Elliot Anderson and unleashed a fierce shot from outside the area which slightly deflected off defender Milan Škriniar before finding the bottom right corner of the net in the 21st.

Jesus doubled the lead with a header shortly before halftime off a corner kick with his seventh goal of the campaign.

The Brazil forward then set up the third in the second half for Gibbs-White.

Pereira is in his second coaching job of the season. In November, he was fired by Wolverhampton Wanderers after a winless start to the Premier League season.

Crystal Palace held

Crystal Palace had to settle for a 1-1 draw away at Zrinjski Mostar in Bosnia in the third-tier Conference League. Ismaïla Sarr gave the Premier League side a 1-0 lead but Karlo Abramović salvaged a draw for the Bosnian champion.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Karel Janicek, The Associated Press

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