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Sometimes football is a game of four halves, and on this occasion three of them were devoid of quality. In the end, only one moment truly mattered and that was Matz Sels’ penalty shootout save from Jack Taylor to send Nottingham Forest into the FA Cup quarter-finals at Ipswich’s expense.
George Hirst and Ryan Yates exchanged goals in the second half of normal time, when the game finally came to life, but no one could source a winner prior to the shootout after a forgettable extra time.
The spot-kicks were exceptional from both teams until Taylor could not find the corner and the Belgian goalkeeper got behind it to set up a trip to Brighton, a side Forest recently beat 7-0, in the next round.
“I am really, really happy,” said the Forest manager, Nuno Espírito Santo, who could not bear to watch the shootout. “We have so many hopes in the FA Cup, we want to go as far as we can. Winning on penalties puts you on a high. They were good penalties.
“Matz was amazing for us. It is a good moment, it is important for the club to give it a go. We have to focus on the Premier League but the FA Cup will always be on our mind. We proceed on our journey together, the fans made a big noise for the penalties, it helped our penalties and distracted the Ipswich players.”
It is only the second time Forest have reached the final eight of the competition in the past 29 years. When Hirst headed home the opener after 53 minutes, the prospect of them doing so looked bleak, because by that stage the hosts had struggled to find their rhythm and test the Ipswich goalkeeper, Alex Palmer.
The England head coach, Thomas Tuchel, was in the stands, although his viewing pleasure was somewhat diminished. Nuno and the Ipswich manager, Kieran McKenna, faced difficult selection choices with Forest enjoying an unlikely battle for a Champions League spot and Ipswich scrapping for survival at the other end being their main focus. The consequence of this was 14 changes between the two teams from their most recent outings and the disjointed opening 45 minutes was proof of the struggle.
Forest came alive only after Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson were sent on to inject energy into the team and the crowd. It had been a quiet night at the City Ground with little to cheer, although they were treated to some drama as the full-time whistle approached.
The upside to Hirst’s goal was that it highlighted that Forest needed to improve to avoid sleepwalking out of the FA Cup. The home side were stirred into life and were level soon after when Anthony Elanga swung in a cross for the captain Yates to head home. It gave the hosts not just an equaliser but the confidence to search for a winner.
Forest now had the momentum and they were the only side with a chance of winning in the 90 minutes. Yates headed in again but it was rightly ruled offside, while Murillo forced Palmer into a stunning save and Callum Hudson-Odoi thwacked the bar with a shot from the edge of the area to ensure an additional half hour was required.
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The extra period consisted of long throw-ins resulting in scraps in the box but no one ever looking like settling the tie from anywhere other than the spot. After nine successful penalties, Taylor did not find the corner, missing in a second losing shootout of the season, having failed in the Carabao Cup defeat by AFC Wimbledon.
“Really disappointing way to lose the game,” McKenna said. “I am really proud of the effort of the players, they could not have put more into the game. Really challenging night in so many aspects. It came down to a tiny margin.”
Sels had gone the wrong way for the previous four penalties, but that is irrelevant and Forest are one step away from Wembley.
