Nottingham Forest booked their place in the semi final of the FA Cup for the first time since 1991 with a penalty shoot-out win at Brighton.
Nuno Espirito’s men progressed 4-3 via spot kicks for the third time in the competition as goalkeeper Matz Sels saved from Jack Hinshelwood and Diego Gomez, allowing Ryan Yates to crash home the winning penalty after the tie had finished goalless following extra time.
The visitors were without injured top scorer Chris Wood, but his replacement Taiwo Awoniyi looked lively early on and was unlucky to sees a low strike from a narrow angle brilliantly kept out by the foot of Bart Verbruggen.
Forest continued to dominate the first half without making the most of some good situations in the final third and were then relieved to see Hinshelwood head wide from a corner following the restart.
The away side regained the momentum but were left incensed with VAR and referee Peter Bankes past the hour when the official consulted the pitch-side monitor before overturning his initial decision to award a penalty for Kaoru Mitoma’s challenge on Elliot Anderson.
Neither side could find the breakthrough in normal time and the pattern continued in extra-time until substitute Gomez’s header was expertly tipped over the crossbar by Sels.
It proved to be a vital save as Forest ensured Brighton suffered the same fate as Exeter City and Ipswich Town in the shoot-out with the East Midlands outfit now looking forward to Sunday afternoon’s draw for the last four, with the semi-finals set to take place at Wembley on the weekend of Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 April.
Next up in the Premier League, Forest host Man United on Tuesday evening with Brighton at home to Euro rivals Aston Villa on Wednesday.