Real Betis 2-2 Nottingham Forest: Man United flop Antony scores late equaliser after Igor Jesus brace - as Ange Postecoglou's side impress in first European game in 29 years

Just when it seemed the Ange Postecoglou era was up and running at Nottingham Forest, an old Premier League foe came back to haunt them.

Four months after lifting the Europa League with Tottenham, Postecoglou should have marked his return to the competition with his first victory in charge of his new club.

But after Forest wasted chance after chance to make the game safe in the first half, the former Manchester United winger Antony equalised five minutes from full-time to leave Postecoglou still looking for that elusive win.

It was a shame, really. Because in Forest’s first European fixture for nearly 30 years, it was a daring display in front of nearly 3,500 travelling fans. After Cedric Bakambu had given Betis an early lead, Igor Jesus scored twice in the space of five minutes and could have had at least one more before half-time. But those chances were wasted and with full-time edging closer, Antony rescued a point for Betis. On Saturday, Forest take on Sunderland in the Premier League.

In terms of style, Betis were ideal opponents for Forest. Technically impressive, they lack the sort of athleticism that could punish Forest on the break. But against last season’s Europa Conference League finalists, this was still a decent result.

The power of the Premier League makes the Europa League a huge prize. Win it, and you end up in the Champions League, regardless of league position. Despite finishing 17th in the table last term, Spurs are now in Europe’s main club competition thanks to lifting this trophy. That is the prize for owner Evangelos Marinakis, who was watching from the stands in Seville.

After a such a long absence from high-level European competition, Forest looked nervous early on. Playing wide right in a 4-3-3, Morgan Gibbs-White was booked in the second minute for hauling back Abde Ezzalzouli.

Seconds earlier, Oleksandr Zinchenko had been lucky to escape a yellow card for a similar challenge on former Manchester United winger Antony. Then Matz Sels was forced into a hurried clearance as Bakambu bore down.

Until that point, Betis had looked the more fluent and it was no surprise when they took the lead. In for the injured Murillo, Morato allowed Antony to slip past him far too easily and when the Brazilian picked out Bakambu, he profited from slack marking to hammer beyond Sels in the 15th minute.

The visitors were trying to adapt to Postecoglou’s tweaks, which meant a three-man midfield and Jesus the furthest forward, with Chris Wood on the bench. More than anything, they needed to show character – and how they passed that test.

Within three minutes they were level as Jesus tapped into an empty net to finish off a marvellous move involving Zinchenko, Douglas Luiz and Gibbs-White. And five minutes later, the £16.5million summer signing from Botafogo rose unchallenged to head Luiz’s corner past Pau Lopez.

Betis lost their shape completely then, and the home crowd responded with whistles. This was when Forest really should have put the game out of sight.

Elliot Anderson tiptoed past two defenders inside the box and found Jesus, whose shot was blocked. Jesus prodded Zinchenko’s corner against the post from close range and Callum Hudson-Odoi could not convert the rebound.

After more clever passing, Jesus steered Neco Williams’ cross too close to Lopez and Williams was soon involved again as he collected Gibbs-White’s pass and tried to set up the Forest captain, who was desperately close to turning in the third.

Everything about this Forest set-up is different from the Nuno Espirito Santo side. For a couple of snapshots, how about Zinchenko and Anderson trying to dribble out of their own box, or Ibrahim Sangare looking for a short pass to Anderson after intercepting a cross on the penalty spot. On those occasions, they got away with it, but you suspect there will be plenty of times when they do not.

With Zinchenko, you take the rough with the smooth. Popping up in central midfield, the Ukrainian played a perfect ball to Arnaud Kalimuendo. Perhaps because he had only just come on, the Kalimuendo’s touch was poor and the chance was lost. At the other end, Natan failed to make contact from point-blank range after more risky defending from Forest.

Antony has become an idol for Betis since his move here but this was a frustrating game for him, summed up by an ambitious volley late on that went out for a throw-in. But seconds later, he was on hand to turn in Rodrigo Riquelme’s cross at the far post.