Chris Wood's penalty gave Nottingham Forest a slender 1-0 lead over Aston Villa in a tight Europa League semifinal first leg at the City Ground.
There was not much to separate the two sides in this all-English tie, but Wood was offered the chance to strike the decisive blow of the first game after Lucas Digne handled Omari Hutchinson's cut-back in the area.
There was more VAR controversy in the first half when Elliot Anderson escaped punishment for a studs-up tackle on Ollie Watkins' ankle.
Meanwhile, goals from Ismaila Sarr, Daichi Kamada and Jorgen Strand Larsen gave Crystal Palace a 3-1 lead over Shakhtar Donetsk to take back to south London.
Despite sitting at opposite ends of the Premier League table, both Forest and Villa came into this semifinal in good form.
Following the sides' 1-1 draw in the league in early April, Vitor Pereira's side had seen off Porto in their quarterfinal and routed both Burnley and Sunderland.
Central to Forest's upturn in form has been attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, who came into the first leg with five goals in his last three games.
Striker Igor Jesus has also scored more in his last four league games than he had in his previous 29, having -- prior to that -- saved his best form for the Europa League.
Villa have also been on a good run in recent weeks, having thumped Bologna 7-1 on aggregate to make it to this point and won five of their last seven in all competitions before Thursday night.
Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers have been at the heart of their success, and have joined Gibbs-White in putting pressure on England manager Thomas Tuchel to include them in his squad for this summer's World Cup.