Nicolas Dominguez and Ryan Yates scored to help overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit.
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Vitor Pereira was happy to see his side go through to the quarter-finals (Mike Egerton/PA)
Vitor Pereira was happy to see his side go through to the quarter-finals (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Wire)
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Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira hailed the spirit and character his side showed in their penalty shoot-out victory over Midtjylland in the Europa League last-16 second-leg tie in Denmark.
Forest came into the return leg trailing 1-0 after defeat at the City Ground last week but had their rewards for a completely dominant first half when Nicolas Dominguez headed them in front.
Captain Ryan Yates then produced a stunning strike to put Forest ahead 2-1 on aggregate before Martin Erlic pulled the Danish side back level to send it into extra time and penalties.
However, Midtjylland hit the post twice in the shoot-out through Cho Gue-sung and Aral Simsir before Edward Chilufya slipped and skied his effort, while Morgan Gibbs-White, Ibrahim Sangare and Neco Williams all hit the target to make it 3-0 on penalties to Forest.
Pereira made nine changes ahead of a crunch Premier League relegation clash with Tottenham on Sunday but believes Thursday’s performance shows the quality of Forest’s squad.
He told TNT Sports: “We are very happy and we proved we came here to compete. We have good players, talented players. We played fantastic in the first half.
“I’m very happy because we did everything, tried everything and I have a chance to balance the energy of the players to prepare the next game.
“Fantastic. I started to do the subs not because we were playing in a bad way, but to balance the energy and to be ready for Sunday.
“When we win it is different. The spirit is different, the energy is different. The boys deserved it because they are a fantastic group. Very good players, with team spirit, character, and we showed everything today.
“I don’t have any doubts we have the quality and will compete to achieve our targets, for sure. I want to thank our supporters because today they deserved to keep going in the Europa League.”
Forest won for the first time since a 3-0 away victory over Fenerbahce in the play-off round in Pereira’s first game in charge.
Yates has not found himself in the starting fold too many times this campaign but proved his worth to the team with a goal in normal time and thought he won it in extra time before the goal was ruled out for offside.
He insists the squad are fighting for each other.
Yates said: “I’m buzzing we’re through. Penalties always nervy, always tough, but the lads stepped up and we’re really pleased.
“Considering the changes, it shows the strength in depth we have, the spirit.
“At this stage of the season it’s about showing that togetherness, fighting for each other. A lot of lads played today who haven’t had many minutes and a lot of them took their opportunities.
“That winning feeling is special. You want to keep that momentum going. Momentum at this stage of the season is huge.
“We need to recover well, focus on Tottenham and hopefully we can keep building and go and get those wins.”