Nottingham Forest's first home European game since 1996 ended in defeat as they went down 3-2 to Midtjylland.

Ange Postecoglou's search for a first win in charge of Forest continues, with his team's fragility from set-pieces proving costly in Thursday's Europa League contest at the City Ground.

Forest were twice undone by deliveries into their box in the first half, with Ousmane Diao and Mads Bech on target for the visitors in the space of six minutes.

Dan Ndoye briefly restored parity between those Midtjylland goals, though matters were made worse for the hosts when centre-back Murillo was forced off injured.

Substitute Chris Wood saw two goals disallowed in a matter of minutes as Forest upped the pressure late on, while Elias Olafsson denied Neco Williams and Morgan Gibbs-White, but Midtjylland delivered the knockout blow when Dario Osorio led a blistering counter-attack, with Valdemar Byskov slotting home.

As chants of "sacked in the morning" rang around a rapidly emptying City Ground, seemingly directed at Postecoglou, Diou was adjudged to have fouled Elliot Anderson in the box after a VAR review, handing Forest a reprieve.

Wood sent his penalty calmly down the middle, but it proved too little, too late for Forest, as the pressure grows on Postecoglou.

Data Debrief: Defensive struggles plague Postecoglou

Last season, Postecoglou's Tottenham team registered the worst expected goals against (xGA) tally of any Premier League team not to be relegated, while Nuno Espirito Santo's Forest side were generally excellent at the back.

Yet since Postecoglou took charge of Forest, they have conceded more goals than any other Premier League side in all competitions (13).

Forest's set-piece defending was a particular concern. Indeed, in the first half, all seven of Midtjylland's came from set plays. In fact, their 1.98 xG in the first half alone from such situations is the most by any team in a single Europa League game in any of the last five seasons.

Midtjylland have now played English opposition five times, with this just their second victory, after a 2-1 win over Manchester United in 2016.