Eyebrows were raised when Nottingham Forest’s teamsheet dropped for their first European game in 29 years – and Chris Wood was on the bench.

After all, it was the New Zealand forward’s 20 Premier League goals last season that helped propel Forest back into Europe.

Instead, head coach Ange Postecoglou put his trust in Igor Jesus, the 24-year-old who cost £10m from Botafogo in July.

And in Forest’s Europa League opener, it did not take long for the Brazil striker to show why he could prove to be one of the Premier League’s most exciting additions.

With his side trailing 1-0 to Real Betis in Seville, Igor Jesus levelled with a tap-in before heading Forest into a 2-1 lead from a corner less than five minutes later.

But former Manchester United forward Antony levelled in the 85th minute to deny Forest a victory in the first of eight league phase games.

But what now for Wood, who was an unused substitute? And will Igor Jesus keep his place in the starting XI?

“Chris Wood definitely has to watch his back,” said former Forest and West Ham forward Michail Antonio on TNT Sports.

Igor Jesus celebrated both goals against Betis by dropping to his knees and pointing to the sky.

In an action-packed performance, he had six of Forest’s 16 attempts, of which three were on target.

Full of energy and running, he could have had a first-half hat-trick but his goalbound attempt – after Elliot Anderson’s brilliant jinking run – was blocked before Postecoglou decided to replace him in the 64th minute.

The 5,000 travelling Forest fans, in Seville to see their team’s first competitive European match since 1996, gave Igor Jesus a standing ovation when he came off.

“He definitely looks like a real threat,” added Antonio.

“He even had a couple of other opportunities, half opportunities he took quite well as well. His movement, his hold-up play… he seems big, he seems strong.”

Igor Jesus made his Brazil debut last October, scoring in a 2-1 World Cup qualifying win in difficult conditions in Chile.

In June, he scored Botafogo’s winner against European champions Paris St-Germain at the Club World Cup, with his performance in that game prompting South American football expert Tim Vickery to label him the modern-day version of former Ivory Coast and Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.

“For Ange tonight – what a shout,” said former Forest and England midfielder Steve Hodge on BBC Radio Nottingham about Postecoglou’s decision to start with Igor Jesus and put Wood on the bench.

“Igor Jesus has made his mark tonight.”

Having scored twice against Swansea City in the Carabao Cup last week, Igor Jesus now has four goals in two starts for his new club.

Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson, who impressed against Betis, believes the Brazilian could be a key figure for the team this season.

“He’s always in the right position, which is obviously a big thing for a striker,” he told TNT Sports. “He’s done well and got two goals and two goals the other week, so he’s doing really well and we see it in training. I’m really happy for Igor.”

Wood has been phenomenal for Forest since turning his loan from Newcastle into a permanent move in 2023.

Only Mohamed Salah (29), Alexander Isak (23) and Erling Haaland (22) scored more goals in the Premier League than Wood last season.

He started this season from where he left off last term with two goals in the 3-1 opening weekend win over Brentford under Nuno Espirito Santo.

Wood, 33, has also started both Premier League games since Postecoglou replaced Nuno – the 3-0 defeat at Arsenal and the 1-1 draw at Burnley.

But it remains to be seen whether he will return to side for the visit of Sunderland on Saturday (17:30 BST) – Postecoglou’s first in charge of Forest at the City Ground.

“From Chris’ point of view, he won’t be happy tonight – he will be want to be out there in big games like this,” added Hodge on BBC Radio Nottingham.

Meanwhile, Postecoglou remains without a win after four games in charge despite Wednesday’s largely positive performance.

After defeats by Arsenal in the league and Swansea City in the EFL Cup, followed by a draw at Burnley, Wednesday’s performance was much more upbeat and Forest were set to mark their return to Europe with a win until Antony’s late equaliser.

“I thought our football was outstanding at times in the first half,” said Postecoglou.

“The thing I could fault is we didn’t put the game to bed. I’m just disappointed that the players and supporters don’t get the rewards for our efforts.

“I’ve just got to make sure they keep their heads up because there’s plenty to be positive about, and the wins will come.”

Bradford City manager Graham Alexander could not help but smile as he reflected on his side’s 4-1 Carabao Cup loss at Newcastle United.

“You see the starting team that they put out,” he said.

“As soon as we exchanged the teamsheets and we saw Bruno [Guimaraes] bring out the teamsheet, I thought, ‘Right, OK, they’re taking it properly. Real serious’.”

Understandably so.

The holders were not about to underestimate the League One leaders – and did not want their defence of the trophy to end at the third-round stage. Not after a 70-year wait to win major domestic silverware.

Interestingly, Brazilians Guimaraes and Joelinton were the only starters on Wednesday night who also lined up when Newcastle beat Liverpool at Wembley to end that drought back in March.

However, such are the options now at head coach Eddie Howe’s disposal, it proved a comfortable night, despite Bradford’s efforts.

“The lads are very aware of the strength in depth,” said Howe. “So everyone in their position will be looking over their shoulder going, ‘If I don’t play well today, there’s someone else waiting to take my shirt’.”

Newcastle have not always had such depth.

It was a different competition, of course, but they were knocked out by League One opposition in the FA Cup third round in both 2022 and 2023.

Yet Newcastle are a different side these days as defender Dan Burn knows only too well.

“Nothing changes whether we’re playing Bradford or Barcelona,” he wrote in his programme notes. “It’s the exact same preparation and the same mentality.

“Top teams can rotate without too much changing and we’ve invested quite heavily in the squad now to hopefully enable us to do the same….whether that’s the Carabao Cup, the FA Cup – whatever competition we’re playing in, we’re here to win.”

Howe had the luxury of making seven changes from the weekend goalless Premier League draw at Bournemouth, yet Lewis Hall, Malick Thiaw, Sven Botman Joelinton, Guimaraes, Anthony Gordon and Anthony Elanga started against Alexander’s side.

That is even before mentioning William Osula, who scored two goals, or debutant keeper Aaron Ramsdale, who made a couple of important saves with the game at 0-0.

“You need that strength in depth,” added Howe. “It keeps everyone on their toes. I don’t think there can be any complacency when you play. A bad game can see you miss football and no-one wants that.”

Newcastle ended up scoring as many goals in 90 minutes against Bradford as they did in their previous five games in all competitions combined.

It was the first time since April – a 5-0 win over Crystal Palace – they had bagged four goals in a single game and it could have been more as the dominant hosts had 27 shots, 11 efforts on target and 66 touches in the opposition box.

Newcastle face sterner tests ahead yet it still felt a noteworthy night to rebuild confidence in front of goal.

For context, a blunt attack mustered just a single shot on target against Bournemouth and the black-and-whites have only scored three times in their opening five league fixtures.

When it comes to shot conversion (5.6%) and big chance conversion (28.6%), Newcastle have posted some of the worst top-flight returns, while only Aston Villa have scored fewer goals (one).

But Joelinton and Danish forward Osula scored timely doubles here.

With three goals, the 22-year-old Osula is now the club’s top scorer this term, having also found the net against champions Liverpool last month.

Given Yoane Wissa’s absence with a knee injury, and record signing Nick Woltemade needing time to adjust to the physicality of the Premier League, it was a welcome performance from Osula, who attracted interest from Eintracht Frankfurt last month.

“He’s very driven,” said boss Howe. “Will has got great attitude to his work and his career. He’s very ambitious, he wants to play as all players do, but he is now justifying that by his training performances and when he plays on the pitch.

“We have done a lot of work with him and will continue to do that for his benefit to try to get him to be the very best player he can be.”

European captain Luke Donald says his team are “fuelled by something money can’t buy” as he cranked up Ryder Cup intensity with what appeared to be a dig at their American rivals.

All 12 of the American team – plus captain Keegan Bradley – are being given $500,000 (£370,000), with $300,000 (£220,000) of that going to a charity of their choice.

It is the first time in the biennial tournament’s 98-year history that players have received a stipend. The Europeans are not paid to play.

“[The Ryder Cup] is not about prize money or ranking points. It’s about pride, it’s about representing your flag, your shirt and the legacy you leave behind,” Donald said during Wednesday’s opening ceremony.

He added: “We are fuelled by something money can’t buy – purpose, brotherhood and a responsibility to honour those who came before us, while inspiring those whose time is yet to come.”

Earlier, Collin Morikawa dismissed the idea that the US players receiving payment might mean they have less desire than Europe’s team.

Asked how much he thinks each American deserves, Morikawa said: “There’s no number. It could be zero. It could be one dollar. There isn’t a right or a wrong amount.

“Look, I think at the end of the day, all 12 of us here playing when we tee it up on Friday, and before this all started, we just want to win the Ryder Cup.

“We want to win it for ourselves. We want to win it for our country.”

The payment for the Americans has brought a lot of negative attention, with critics believing it does not fit with the ethos of the Ryder Cup.

Detractors also argue the players – who earn multi-millions on the tours – do not need the extra income.

Former European Ryder Cup player Darren Clarke has previously said the idea of being paid to play in the tournament “does not sit well” with him, while former European captain Paul McGinley has described the move as “a massive mistake”.

American player Xander Schauffele accused the media of trying to make the issue “a negative thing”.

Morikawa, who won The Open in 2021, says the financial support means the players can help people they “care about”.

“I think the PGA of America is making a lot of money from the Ryder Cup and I think on that end, it’s just to give us an opportunity to either pay our respective teams, because look, the teams behind us, they don’t get the recognition that we do but they deserve a lot of it that we get,” he added.

“Also just to give back to our own communities, right. We have a lot of communities back home that sometimes don’t get the recognition.”

Morikawa is the latest American player to play down the significance of the appearance money.

Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay and Schauffele said on Tuesday they would be donating the full $500,000 to charity.

Not all the US players have divulged what they plan to do with the cash.

“It gives us more opportunities, I think, to help out people that we care about,” Morikawa said.

Europe’s Justin Rose says he would relish seeing US President Donald Trump present the visiting team with the Ryder Cup on Sunday.

Trump, who is a huge golf fan, is set to attend the opening day of the tournament on Friday.

He is not currently scheduled to be at Bethpage over the weekend, but recently presented Chelsea with the football Club World Cup on stage in New Jersey and also attended the US Open men’s tennis final earlier this month.

If Trump did decide to turn up again on Sunday, Rose would not be opposed to the president handing over the trophy to the Europeans in the event of a rare away win.

“I’m not sure he’s going to want to be on the stage congratulating the team that wins in his backyard,” added the Englishman.

“But of course, he’s the president, so [he gets] ultimate respect, and that would be a great opportunity.”