Nottingham Forest are through to the quarter-final of the Europa League after a dramatic penalty shootout victory over FC Midtjylland
Forest opened the scoring before the half-time interval, with Nicolas Dominguez scoring a looping header to give the tie a level score.
Sum up our 3-0 penalty shootout victory in one word! Forest are through to the Europa League quarter-final!!!
Things got better for Forest early in the second half when Ryan Yates smashed a beauty of an effort into the Midtjylland net from outside the penalty area.
However, Midtjylland earned extra time when Martin Erlic scored to ensure that last week’s 1-0 win at the City Ground didn’t prove to be in vain.
Joe Hart was on commentary duties, and he had some strong praise for Forest star James McAtee, who was handed a rare start.
FC Midtjylland v Nottingham Forest FC - UEFA Europa League 2025/26 Round of 16 Second Leg
Photo by Joern Pollex – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
Joe Hart praises James McAtee for stunning Forest performance
McAtee was handed a rare start as a number 10 and boy did he thrive in that area of the pitch.
It’s been hard not to feel sympathy for the former Manchester City player this season because he’s been starved of minutes, especially in his actual position.
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Hart was a big fan of his performance in Denmark, and he praised him after another moment of magic from him shortly before he was subbed off.
He said live on TNT Sports: “McAtee especially, he’s been out of the side this season, but he’s been involved with everything good that Forest have done tonight.”
McAtee needs to keep his head high and it’s clear that he will be needed between now and the rest of the season as Forest look to progress in Europe and stay in the Premier League.
Who was your Man of the Match from the second leg win over FC Midtjylland?
The youngster is by no means the finished article but as Hart says, he’s the type of player capable of brilliant things if he’s given more minutes out on the pitch.
McAtee has a big part to play between now and the end of the season, with the games showing no signs of slowing down and this performance is definitely a positive one.
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