Nottingham Forest defeated Fenerbahce to advance to the last 16 of the Europa League.

Kerem Akturkoglu’s double, which included a late penalty, put the hosts in danger of blowing their 3-0 lead in the first leg.

Callum Hudson-Odoi’s goal eased fears of a complete collapse as Vitor Pereira’s side continued to push forward despite a sloppy and tentative performance.

The opponents will be FC Midtjylland, whose coach Ange Postecoglou was ousted in October, or Real Betis, whom Forest drew 2-2 in Spain in a league match.

However, things didn’t go smoothly after Forest equalized just before half-time in the 22nd minute and Akturkoglu fired home.

This sent the City Ground into crisis and although Elliott Anderson’s shot went wide, the hosts struggled to recover.

Pereira made four changes during the break, including the removal of an ineffective James McAtee and Ryan Yates, but Jair Cunha tripped Akturcoglu 25 seconds after the restart, giving away a penalty.

The striker increased the level of anxiety by winning the spot-kick, but Hudson-Odoi, one of the half-time substitutes, made it 4-2 on aggregate with a low finish 22 minutes before the end.

Omari Hutchinson could have made it 2-2 that night, but he was stopped by Tariq Cetin, who finished in the closing stages.