Nottingham Forest secured their spot in the fifth round of the FA Cup courtesy of a penalty-shootout victory over Championship side Bristol City at the City Ground on Wednesday night.
Having knocked West Ham United out in the previous round of the competition, it was not a surprise that Bristol City were full of confidence, having also held Forest to a goalless draw in their initial clash at the end of January, but the Robins were made to pay for missed chances in the fourth-round replay.
The two teams could not be separated at the end of normal or extra time, with Jason Knight cancelling out an opener from Divock Origi, but Forest netted all five of their penalties in the shootout to record a 5-3 success over their second-tier opponents, setting up a fifth-round clash with Manchester United on February 28 in the process.
Forest came close to making the breakthrough in the early stages, with Morgan Gibbs-White unleashing a powerful strike, but Bristol City goalkeeper Max O'Leary was on hand to make a brilliant save.
Shortly after, Forest did score, with Origi converting from close range after a header from Felipe; there was a VAR check for a possible handball, but the goal was given.
Bristol City were bright, though, and Sam Bell forced Matt Turner into a smart save before the Championship outfit levelled the scores through Knight in the 14th minute.
Turner managed to keep out a powerful strike from Andy King, but Haydon Roberts collected the ball off the post before delivering into Knight, who found the back of the net.
Bristol City were the better side, with Turner again forced into action to deny Tommy Conway, but the two teams went down the tunnel at 1-1 following an entertaining opening 45 minutes of action.
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Anis Mehmeti had the first serious chance of the second period, but his effort was saved by Turner, who was certainly the busier of the two goalkeepers.
Bristol City continued to match their Premier League opponents, and the score was level heading into the final 10 minutes of normal time, with extra time and potentially penalties looming large.
Matty James came closest to winning it in normal time, with the midfielder having a goal-bound attempt blocked, but the clash entered extra time.
Harry Cornick had the first effort of the additional time, but the Bristol City substitute's strike was always too high, and there was not much of note in the first 15 minutes, with both teams almost settling for penalties.
Bristol City had a golden chance to score in the early stages of the second half of extra-time, with Nahki Wells bursting through on goal, but he just could not sort out his feet in time to shoot and the chance was gone, before James fired over two minutes later, with the visitors threatening to win it.
The away side had another opportunity late on, with Wells feeding Cornick in a dangerous position, but he missed the target, and the contest went to penalties.
Forest netted all five of theirs, with Bell's miss for Bristol City proving to be decisive, as the home side ran out 5-3 winners in the shootout to set up a clash with Man United at the end of this month.
Forest's attention will now switch back to the Premier League, preparing to welcome Newcastle United on Saturday, while Bristol City's Championship campaign will continue away to Middlesbrough on the same afternoon.
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