League 1 side Exeter City took Nottingham Forest the full distance in a Emirates FA Cup fourth round classic, despite going down to ten-men as debutant Ed Turns saw red late in normal time.
Exeter took a shock lead within five minutes through Josh Magennis before Ramón Sosa and Taiwo Awoniyi turned the tie around before the break. The home side levelled five minutes after the start of the second half through Magennis and produced a resilient display for the fans at St James Park before taking the game to extra-time and ultimately bowing out on penalties.
As it happened
Exeter City went into the tie hoping to follow in the footsteps of their Devon rivals and make a huge fourth round shock, just as Plymouth Argyle managed against Liverpool on Sunday, and within five minutes, St James Park went wild as Exeter took a shock early lead.
A corner was not properly dealt with and eventually the ball was recycled by Demertri Mitchell who whipped a cross in, which should have been catching practice for Carlos Miguel. However, the Brazilian spilled the ball to the feet of FA Cup top scorer Magennis, who made it five in the competition and gave the League 1 outfit an early lead.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut Forest grew into proceedings and caused havoc from a long ball as Awoniyi held off his man and poked an effort under the keeper who had rushed outside the vicinity of his box. Vincent Harper got back in time and cleared, but there were certainly warning signs for the home side.
Unfortunately for the Grecians, Sosa equalised for Nottingham Forest after 16 minutes. The Paraguayan forward took a good touch inside the area from Ibrahim Sangaré’s ball in and held off two challenges before firing an effort which proved too powerful for Whitworth, as he could only see the ball squirm over the line.
A superb save from Whitworth denied Awoniyi from giving Forest the lead as he volleyed first time from the edge of the area and the Exeter keeper had to be at full stretch to stop the Nigerian putting Forest in the lead.
After 37 minutes, Whitworth was unable to keep Exeter level as Awoniyi gave Forest the lead before the interval. Sangaré was once again involved as he played Awoniyi in-behind, he held the ball up and turned towards goal – despite the mass Exeter presence – as the Forest number nine bent a sweet effort which nestled into the bottom left corner.
History repeated itself once more, and after just five second-half minutes, the home side restored parity. A corner caused havoc as Magennis headed goalwards, forcing Miguel into a good save, but the ball fell back to the striker and once more made the telling contact towards goal which deflected in off the post by the unfortunate Willy Boly. That made it six for Magennis in the competition and once more, St James Park went wild.
Embed from Getty ImagesMiguel picked up a problem before the hour-mark which forced him off and saw the introduction of Matz Sels to replace him. It did not take long for the substitute to be tested as he parried Ilmari Niskanen’s angled drive on goal, and Exeter looked the more likely to score with 30 minutes left on the clock.
Heading into the final ten minutes, Exeter endured a period of dominance keeping Forest camped in their own area defending dangerous set-pieces but there was a huge counter-attacking opportunity for the visitors. A corner was cleared out to Sosa who evaded a challenge and motored forward with Gibbs-White driving into acres of vacated space. The midfielder was in on goal if Sosa played him through but bizarrely, Sosa tried to go himself and he was eventually sounded out. Gibbs-White was furious.
With three minutes of added time left, Turns on his debut was given his marching orders with a straight red card. He left a really high challenge on Gibbs-White who was looking to counter at pace, and the debutant could not have any complaints with the referee’s decision.
Just before the full-time whistle, there was a nasty collision between Awoniyi and Whitworth which left both players on the floor and medical assistance was required, especially for the Forest forward who had to come off. There was a lengthy stoppage to be added on top of the already announced ten minutes of added time.
Embed from Getty ImagesChances fell to both sides in that time, as Patrick Jones fired narrowly wide before Portuguese winger Jota Silva smashed his effort off the post. The game headed to extra time; the first period of which demonstrated the resilience of Caldwell’s ten men, who defended resolutely but still looked dangerous going forward.
In the second period, Chris Wood had his clearest opportunity on goal since coming on for the stricken Awoniyi, but was denied by the impressive Whitworth from a corner. More opportunities came Forest’s way but they were not taken, as the game went the distance and penalties were required.
The unfortunate Reece Cole saw his spot kick saved by Sels while MacDonald cannoned his effort off the crossbar, allowing Neco Williams to net the winning penalty for the visitors in a captivating cup tie.
Nottingham Forest will now take on struggling Premier League side Ipswich Town at the City Ground in the fifth round of the Emirates FA Cup.
The lineups
EXE: Whitworth; McMillan, Turns, MacDonald: Harper, Richards, Francis, Niskanen; Mitchell, Trevitt; Magennis
NFO: Miguel; Moreira, Boly, Toffolo, Moreno; Sangaré, Yates; Jota, Danilo, Sosa; Awoniyi