Nottingham Forest defeated Brighton 4-3 on penalties on Saturday evening to book their place in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley Stadium.
The opening 30 minutes of the match saw just two shots on goal happen, with one for each side. Despite the lack of action in the final third of the pitch for both sides, the game was being played at a fast pace and a good intensity. Even though it was looking like a closely contested match, it was the visitors who looked the more threatening of the two sides despite the absence of two of their most dangerous attacking players, Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi, who started on the bench for this match.
The first half ended 0-0 after a cagey showing from both sides.
In the 63rd minute, Forest were awarded a penalty, but after two minutes of the incident being reviewed, the decision was overturned. Kaoru Mitoma brought down Elliot Anderson inside the box and even though the Japanese winger's arm clearly brought down the Forest midfielder, the referee decided that there was not enough contact to warrant a penalty being given.
Even though the second half got off to a bright and entertaining start, the remaining period of the half following the controversial VAR decision was quiet, and neither side threatened much in front of goal. After 98 minutes of action in regular time, the tie went to extra time.
In the 109th minute, Brighton's best chance of the match happened, but Diego Gomez's header, which looked destined to nestle in the back of the net, was kept out with a world-class save by Matz Sels.
To add to the late drama, Brighton had a goal disallowed in the 118th minute. Carlos Baleba played an accurate long ball out to Pervis Estupinan, who made a run into the box, but the Ecuadorian was offside by a significant amount and the goal was waved off pretty much as soon as it went in. The home side's disallowed goal was the last action of the match and the tie was going to be decided by penalties.
Following a garage of poor Brighton penalties, specifically from Jack Hinshelwood and Diego Gomez, Forest captain Ryan Yates scored the winning penalty to send his side to an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley as 4-3 victors on penalties..
Brighton 0-0 Nottingham Forest - Match Statistics
Brighton
52
12
2
6
5
2
Match Highlights
To follow soon...
Brighton Player Ratings
Kaoru Mitoma in action for Brighton
GK: Bart Verbruggen - 8/10
Made some terrific saves and is arguably the reason his side was kept in the match for so long.
RB: Jack Hinshelwood - 6/10
Disciplined and solid defensively but lacked quality when going forward. Hinshelwood's penalty was poor and was routinely saved by Sels.
CB: Jan Paul van Hecke - 7.5/10
Won pretty much all of his duels and was very good on the ball.
CB: Adam Webster - 8/10
Quality with the ball at his feet and made a lot of important clearances and tackles in key moments.
LB: Pervis Estupinan - 7/10
A constant energetic presence up and down the left flank. The Ecuadorian's energy was valuable, but like his full-back counterpart, he lacked quality when going forward.
CM: Carlos Baleba - 7/10
A solid box-to-box display. Baleba provided good support for the Brighton defenders, but he also contributed to the match in an attacking sense also with some dangerous through passes.
CM: Yasin Ayari - 6.5/10
Created a few good chances but for the most part, he looked off the pace of the match and was quite easily shrugged off the ball.
AM: Georginio Rutter - 7/10
Had some moments where he looked really bright dribbling at the Forest defence. The Frenchman was forced off after 75 minutes with a nasty-looking ankle injury.
RW: Yankuba Minteh - 7.5/10
Brighton's most dangerous attacking threat. Minteh looked to attack every single time he picked the ball up and he had success in doing so. As well as having lots of energy and using his pace to attack, Minteh also worked hard to get back and help his side defensively.
ST: Danny Welbeck - 5/10
Really struggled against the physicality and size of Forest's centre-backs and never really got into the match.
LW: Kaoru Mitoma - 6.5/10
Probably got let off after giving away a penalty which was overturned. The Japanese winger had a tough match up against Aina and didn't threaten as much as he typically does.
SUB: Joao Pedro - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Simon Adingra - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Brajan Gruda - 7/10
Made some good runs forward but looked nervous and panicked when he picked up the ball in threatening areas.
SUB: Diego Gomez - 6/10
Had some good opportunities in threatening areas, but he couldn't make them count. To add to his many missed chances, Gomez also missed his penalty.
SUB: Lewis Dunk - 7/10
Replace Webster well following his hamstring injury. Dunk took a nasty bang to the head just minutes after coming on, but he still managed to put in a solid showing.
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Nottingham Forest Player Ratings
Nikola Milenkovic in action for Nottingham Forest
GK: Matz Sels - 7.5/10
Didn't really have much to do throughout the match, but stayed alert and made a world-class save in extra time to deny Gomez.
RB: Ola Aina - 7.5/10
Had a good and competitive battle with Mitoma throughout the match. Aina put in a real shift up and down the right flank and was solid both defensively and offensively.
CB: Nikola Milenkovic (Man of the Match) - 8.5/10
Made some excellent recovery challenges as sometimes the pace of the Brighton forwards caused the Forest defence problems.
CB: Murillo - 7.5/10
Just like his centre-back partner, Murillo used his physicality very well up against Brighton's forwards and put in a calm and assured defensive display.
LB: Neco Williams - 6.5/10
Had some shaky moments when defending against Minteh but stayed resilient and energetic up and down the right flank. To cap off what was a tough match, the Welshman also skied his penalty way over the bar.
CM: Ryan Yates - 6.5/10
Worked hard and pressed well but didn't contribute much of any note to the match.
CM: Elliot Anderson - 7.5/10
Had a good showing in midfield where he used his dribbling and one-on-one skills to evade lots of pressure and threaten going forward.
AM: Morgan Gibbs-White - 7/10
Produced some really nice and threatening passes to the Forest forward line, but as a whole, Gibbs-White didn't have as much creative influence on the match as he normally does.
RW: Nicolas Dominguez - 7/10
Had a quiet first half, but in the second half, he worked really hard and showed why he is a valuable player, even when playing out of position.
ST: Taiwo Awoniyi - 6.5/10
Pressed the Brighton backline well and had some good moments of hold-up play but just didn't offer enough in front of goal while he was on the pitch.
LW: Danilo - 5/10
Just like Dominguez, it was clear that Danilo was being played out of position. The Brazilian hardly saw the ball on the left wing and was brought off after 61 minutes.
SUB: Callum Hudson-Odoi - 7.5/10
Gave Forest a new lease of life following his introduction. Hudson-Odoi was fearless going forward and really threatened with his pace and dribbling ability.
SUB: Anthony Elanga - 7/10
Just like Hudson-Odoi, Elanga changed the game for his side and threatened with his pace after Forest didn't play with natural wingers for the first hour of the match.
SUB: Jota Silva - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Morato - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.