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Nottingham Forest’s Matz Sels saved two penalties in the shoot-out - Reuters/Toby Melville
Third in the Premier League, and now into the last four of the FA Cup. This truly could become a season for the ages for Nottingham Forest, who are routinely showing a character and resilience that few teams can match.
This latest FA Cup win, against an in-form Brighton, was their third consecutive penalty shoot-out victory in the competition. That statistic alone speaks volumes of the mental strength of Nuno Espirito Santo’s players, and indeed the quality of Matz Sels, their hugely impressive goalkeeper.
Sels saved twice in the shoot-out, denying Jack Hinshelwood and Diego Gómez, to allow Forest captain Ryan Yates the opportunity of winning the match from 12 yards. It was a chance he took with absolute relish, before sprinting the length of the field to celebrate in front of the travelling supporters. The Forest fans continue to dream the wildest of dreams, and they sang here about going to both the Champions League and to Wembley.
The last time these teams met, the afternoon had gone so badly for Brighton that their head coach, Fabian Hürzeler, literally set fire to his tactical game-plan. That was a humiliating 7-0 loss in February, and Hurzeler was quick to scrub it from the minds of his players.
This performance was a far more evenly-fought affair, so much so that it became something of a non-affair for much of the evening. Forest were far from dominant in the game but they will feel vindicated after being on the wrong end of a controversial penalty decision, when Kaoru Mitoma’s apparent foul on Elliot Anderson went unpunished.
Full report to follow
08:20 PM GMT
The semi-final draw takes place tomorrow
Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest are in the hat. Will Aston Villa or Preston North End, Bournemouth or Manchester City, join them. Villa and City if the trend is for two-word clubs rather than ones and fours so far.
08:17 PM GMT
Ryan Yates speaks to BBC Sport
08:12 PM GMT
Yates sets off up the other end
Like a young David Pleat galloping upfield with the bench and his colleagues in tow to slide in front of the away fans and ignite the celebrations of reaching their first Cup semi for 34 years.
08:10 PM GMT
Yates scores
Forest win 4-3 on penalties. Wembley here they come.
Whacked it into the bottom left.
08:10 PM GMT
Dunk scores
Same way as Milenkovic. Sidefoot into the bottom right.
Brighton 3 Forest 3
08:09 PM GMT
Milenkovic scores
But only just. Slips it under Verbruggen’s dive into the bottom right.
Brighton 2 Forest 3
08:08 PM GMT
Gomez’s is saved
Thumped it down the middle. Keeper didn’t have to move.
Brighton 2 Forest 2
08:07 PM GMT
Williams blazes over
Leans back. Oh dear. Back to all square!
Brighton 2 Forest 2
08:05 PM GMT
Hinshelwood’s is saved
Looked nervous and the keeper guessed right. Too tamely struck to the bottom right. Not in the corner.
Brighton 2 Forest 2
08:05 PM GMT
Hudson-Odoi scores
Excellent pen, top left.
Brighton 2 Forest 2
08:04 PM GMT
Gruda scores
Sends the keeper the wrong way and rolls it into the bottom left. Eyes!
Brighton 2 Forest 1
08:03 PM GMT
Anderson scores
Bottom right. Calm as you like. Keeper went early.
Brighton 1 Forest 1
08:02 PM GMT
Joao Pedro scores
Top left. Emphatic.
Brighton 1 Forest 0
08:01 PM GMT
Brighton to go first
And the penalties will take place in front of their home end.
Joao Pedro to take. Sels is reading his notes.
07:58 PM GMT
Full time: Brighton 0 Forest 0
Gary Lineker points out that Brighton have lost their last three shoot-outs while Firest have won all theirs in the FA Cup.
Brighton were better in extra-time, Forest in the 90 minutes. But neither decisively so.
07:57 PM GMT
120+1 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Forest try to send Elanga through with a long ball over the top after Joao Pedro loses it. Then back come Brighton, but apart from a speculative penalty shout, the game ends with no further shot on traget.
07:55 PM GMT
120 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Joao Pedro’s mazy run in from the left ends when he shoots from 18 yards, straight into the sliding man of the match Milenkovic.
07:54 PM GMT
119 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Joao Pedro knocks the ball into the goal after Estupinan headed across from the left from an offside position.
Morato → Gibbs-White.
Gibbs-White is one of the usual penalty takers so that’s a bit strange.
07:52 PM GMT
118 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
The corner is safety-first and Brighton end up going backwards.
07:51 PM GMT
117 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Estupinan’s free-kick catches the top of the wall and goes behind for a corner.
07:51 PM GMT
116 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Free-kick to Brighton a inch or two from the 18-yard line when Joao Pedro seems to trip himself having tried to roll Murillo. Forest will go berserk should Brighton score from here.
07:49 PM GMT
115 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Brighton defend the corner and when they lose the ball on the counter, Gruda is booked for a foul.
07:48 PM GMT
113 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Anderson sticks a long ball in the mixer into the Brighton box. It bounces and catches the wind swirling and catching Van Hecke on his heels. He has two bites at a header and it slides off his brow from the last attempt to fall to Jota whose stabbed shot hits the Dutch defender and deflects behind for a corner.
07:46 PM GMT
112 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Estupinan shoots, trying to beat Sels at the near post, but hooks it safely wide.
07:46 PM GMT
111 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Brighton are turning up the tempo and are attacking with urgency now. Free-kick on the right for the home side after Williams’ foul on Adingra.
07:45 PM GMT
109 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Gruda drives to the byline on the right and pings over a cross on the run that Gomez steers towards goal with an almost perfect header but it can’t beat Sels who soars to tip it over and then catches the corner.
07:43 PM GMT
107 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Adingra is played down the right and whips over a dipping cross that looked threatening but a brute to control. Diego Gomez slides in to try to take it on the half-volley but he can’t connect properly as all bar a handful of players through the ages would have done.
07:41 PM GMT
106 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Joao Pedro waves his arms to gee up the home fans before kicking off. Adingra is caught in congestion down the Brighton right and hs to double back. A cross hits Yates on the arm to the inevitable cries of ‘Penalty!’ but there was no real offence.
07:38 PM GMT
Half-tine in extra time: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Hurzeler takes out his whiteboard with the coloured magnets and gives his players a quick tactical brush-up.
07:38 PM GMT
105+1 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Brighton free-kick, 40 yards out for a trip. Estupinan floats it beyond the left post and Dunk heads over.
07:37 PM GMT
105 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Brighton corner after a crisp Williams tackle on Adingra. Yates goes down when battling for the header and the ref awards Forest a free-kick. This game needed euthanising with a shoot-out on 90 minutes, as Gary Lineker advocated.
07:35 PM GMT
104 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Hudson-Odoi slices a cross from a tight angle behind for a goal-kick.
07:34 PM GMT
102 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Adingra’s cross from the right ends with a Forest free-kick as Aina hits the deck when hit midair by Gomez.
07:31 PM GMT
100 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Estupinan and Dunk collide, the left-back’s shoulder hitting his captain in the side of the head, as they both rose to head away Elanga’s cross.
07:30 PM GMT
98 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Yates is booked for a cynical foul on Gruda who was threatening to drive into the penalty box with a fine run. From the free-kick they work the short passes to open up a shooting chance for Gomez who takes a touch and then skims a half-volley into Milenkovic. Minteh tries to keep the attack going but dumps his cross on to the roof of the net.
07:27 PM GMT
96 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Forest on the attack with Hudson-Odoi who feeds a pass from the left to Dominguez who falls as he tries to shoot and fires it into Grudas shins. Then Elanga’s cross from the right is flicked out for a Forest throw.
Jota Silva → Dominguez.
07:25 PM GMT
95 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Chance for Diego Gomez scuppered by caution. He was to the left of the penalty spot when played in by Estupinan’s wonderful pass but took a touch which allowed Milenkovic to smother the shot when it belatedly came. Groans all round.
07:24 PM GMT
93 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Brighton force Murillo on halfway to go back to Sels who hoofs the ball out for a Brighton throw.
07:21 PM GMT
91 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Dunk → Webster.
After a delay for the ref’s radio to be changed, Forest kick off.
And back to the shadowboxing,
07:15 PM GMT
End of normal time: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Two good sides. Rubbish game so far.
07:14 PM GMT
90+10 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Brighton have all 11 men behind the balll now as Forest try to break them down. But they cannot find the key.
07:13 PM GMT
90+8 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Elanga and Dominguez link up on the right in the pocket and the latter eventually pulls back a pass to Yates on the 18-yard line to control and tee up a shot that he blazes miles over.
07:11 PM GMT
90+7 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Webster is unable to be replaced until full time of normal time given they have used all three substitution windows. So he limps on.
07:10 PM GMT
90+5 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
During that attack Webster twanged his hamstring.
07:10 PM GMT
90+3 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Aina glides up the right, the ball never seemingly under control, but breaks past three players, plays a one-two with Dominguez. stumbles just by the byline but somehow digs out a cross at the last moment that Gibbs-White meets with a diving header. VAn hecke hooks it away and Williams whistles another cross through the six-yard box and comically Aina, who was lying off the pitch, crawls back on and tries to launch himself off the floor to reach. All in vain.
07:06 PM GMT
90+1 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Gomez is penalised for a foul on Anderson in which he seemed to get a touch on the ball.
Gibbs-White chips the free-kick to the back post after a long delay and his improvised volley is scuffed and easily foiled by Verbruggen. Good chance that.
07:04 PM GMT
90 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Eight minutes of stoppage time to come. As Matthew Upson says, hopefully tempting fate, that he can’t see a goal in normal time.
07:03 PM GMT
89 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Forest drop back to cover with Yates and Anderson stepping into central defence when Minteh tries to get the better of Williams. They do their jobs to the letter.
07:01 PM GMT
87 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Dominguez is booked for swiping his arm in dissent after being penalised for bumping Estupinan before they were to challenge for a header.
07:00 PM GMT
85 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Just isn’t working for either side in terms of the final ball into their runners. Looks like we’re headed to extra-time.
06:58 PM GMT
83 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Dominguez tries to send Aina in behind Estupinan but overcooks the pass forcing Aina into an emergency stop on the touchline.
06:56 PM GMT
81 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Yates trips Adingra and the home crowd celebrates wildly and sarcastically to make a point to the referee.
06:54 PM GMT
79 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
A fourth change for Brighton:
Diego Gómez → Ayari.
06:52 PM GMT
78 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Gibbs-White crashes into the post and comes a cropper as he slides in to try to turn in Elanga’s cross into the six-yard box. I think the Forest fans are singing ‘Thomas Tuchel, he’s a w-----, he’s a w-----’ for not giving Gibbs-White a game against Albania or Latvia.
06:50 PM GMT
76 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Forest whip the corner from the left deep, too deep, and Anderson is unable to keep it in.
06:49 PM GMT
74 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
No, he cannot go on.
Gruda → Rutter.
06:49 PM GMT
72 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Rutter is injured when slipping and looks unable to continue. The physios are giving him treatment but the way they’re talking to the bench it looks like his race is run. His ankle just crumpled.
06:47 PM GMT
70 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Double change:
Adingra → Mitoma
Joao Pedro → Welbeck.
06:42 PM GMT
68 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Forest’s bench has gone potty, claiming, one presumes, there wasn’t clear enough evidence to overturn it.
06:39 PM GMT
No penalty
Bankes takes to the microphone to say ‘no foul was committed by the defender’.
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Pouring fuel on Forest’s flames: Brighton fans pretend to offer the ref money during the VAR check - BBC SPORT
06:39 PM GMT
VAR tells the referee to go to the screen
Forest will be fuming. Anderson trod on Mitoma but could you say Mitoma was reckless? I don’t think it’s a pen.
06:38 PM GMT
Forest penalty!?
There were two shouts, the first on Yates by Webster which looked fair, that he turned down, the second when Mitoma slides oin on Anderson and the Firest midfielder treads on his arm.
06:36 PM GMT
63 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Estupinan is booked for slipping and crashing into Dominguez with his right-foot lancing his opponent’s metatarsals. Forest free-kick, wide right, about 22 yards from the goal-line.
06:35 PM GMT
61 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Hudson-Odoi → Danilo
Elanga → Awoniyi.
Elanga lines up as iof he’s going to be the central striker with Gibbs-White to the right.
06:34 PM GMT
60 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Hudson Odoi and Elanga are stripped of their tracksuits and being spoken to earnestly by one of the Forest coaches.
Baleba is penalised for handball when chest-trapping the ball and watching it roll down his biceps to his forearm and then into his path.
It’s Ramadan and the break allows Ayari and Minteh to break their fasts.
06:31 PM GMT
58 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Estupinan takes the corner on the right with his left, swinging it into the six-yard box. Van Hecke has a good run at it but perhaps didn’t shout as Hinshelwood beats him to it from a worse position and can only turn it over the bar as he twisted his neck.
06:30 PM GMT
56 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Van Hecke runs on to the free-kick which was chipped to the back post and heads it firmly... straight into the covering Yates who diverts it behind for a corner.
06:29 PM GMT
54 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
The home side’s greater urgency has roused their fans who were very quiet in the first half. Minteh hits top speed to take on Williams who goes down as they fight for the ball in the box and buys his side a free-kick. Moments later Mitoma has a run and the free-kick goes the other way.
06:25 PM GMT
52 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Brighton defend the corner solidly, as they have done in the teeth of all of them. They seem to be moving the ball quicker too, and work it out to Mitoma who swings in a cross with his left from the left that catches Welbeck on his heels which allows Sels to come off his line to gather.
06:23 PM GMT
50 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Gibbs-White gets his nose over the ball 25 yards out and puts his laces through it. Verbruggen helps it over, taking no chances though it seemed to be on trajectory to vault the bar.
06:22 PM GMT
48 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Ayari takes the corner short to Mitoma who gives it back to him. Having broadened the angle he shapes to cross then dinks it into Rutter’s feet and he drops his shoulder, rolls Williams and drills a rising shot over the bar from an angle of about 45 degrees,
06:20 PM GMT
46 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
No changes at half-time. Webster chips the ball up the inside-left and Brighton are on the front foot. Welbeck snatching at a shot and Ayari earning a corner with his cross.
06:05 PM GMT
Half-time: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
A feast of sterility as Forest set up cautiously to rope-a-dope Brighton who seem scarred by the 7-0 and hence too slow and risk-averse.
06:03 PM GMT
45+1 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Mitoma dribbles down the left and crosses. Anderson hooks it away and Baleba absolutely thumps a 22-yard half-volley inches wide of the right post that smacks a camera, set up remotely, right in the lens. Hope the photographer has a sound insurance policy as that seems like a write-off.
06:00 PM GMT
45 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Mitoma treads on Dominguez’s toe and catches him in the goolies with his arm. Nuno wants more than a free-kick but it looked accidental.
05:59 PM GMT
43 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Hinshelwood has space ahead and starts to motor into it but when Danilo launches into the press he forces him to go back and play it infield cautiously.
05:58 PM GMT
41 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Brighton have grown into the game in the last 10 minutes but Forest have proven all season that their defensive organisation is enviable. Nuno learnt a lot when playing for Mourinho at Porto.
05:56 PM GMT
39 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Rutter spots Mitoma lurking on Milenkovic’s right shoulder and clips a pass that the winger tries to nod past the centre-half and then shoot but the ball is a touch too high and by heading it at the apex of his leap he loses control and it bounces too close to Sels.
05:55 PM GMT
37 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Williams cuts back inside when initially sent down the left with the defence lopsided. Brighton quickly recovered and pressed him out of possession.
05:52 PM GMT
35 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Anderson snaps into a tackle on Mitoma to win the ball and then sprays a pass down the right for Gibbs-White. He whips a very inviting cross through the six-yard box that bypasses the diving Verbruggen but Awoniyi can’t reach it either even though he telescopes out his left leg in a desperate lunge.
05:49 PM GMT
32 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Space opens up in front of Estupinan 25 yards out so he puts his laces through a shot, making it swerve and dip just in front of Sels who blocks it, awkward bounce and all, with string forearms.
05:48 PM GMT
30 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Perhaps Nuno is thinking more of his bench as finishers rather than substitutes. Forest’s shape with Dominguez tucked in on the right and Danilo on the left has disrupted Brighton’s rhythm. Almost as if they’re being softened up to be knocked out by Hudson-Odoi and Elanga.
05:44 PM GMT
27 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Ayari whistles a 22-yard daisy-cutter with his left wide of the right post via a touch off Yates who was closing him down. The chance opened up with a good tackle on Anderson and Mitoma’s dart down the left.
05:41 PM GMT
25 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Hinshelwood joins Minteh down the right and they work it between them and then on to Rutter who flicks it to Ayari. He looks for Welbeck but hammers the pass at him and also too high to control.
05:39 PM GMT
23 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Brighton have barely had 10 per cent possession in the past five minutes. They simply cannot hang on to the ball as Forest treat the ball as if they treasure it with their probing and movement.
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The pitch is congested - Peter Cziborra/Action Images via Reuters
05:37 PM GMT
21 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Mitoma puts the first corner behind for another. Van Hecke beats Milenkovic to head it away.
05:36 PM GMT
20 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Hinshelwood slides to block Gibbs-White cross. It catches him on the arm and goes behind. Not a penalty as he was close and his contact not unnatural.
05:35 PM GMT
18 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Baleba puts his laces through a half volley a big old up and under for Minteh to chase up the right but he runs out of grass. Gibbs-White spears a pass crossfield out to Dominguez racing down the inside-right. But he doesn’t have the pace to sprint past Ayari.
05:33 PM GMT
16 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Good save from Verbruggen at the near post with his right foot when Aina spins a pass between Van Hecke and Estupinan and Awoniyi smears a low shot that needed a strong block.
05:29 PM GMT
13 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Forest corner after an excellent pass from Gibbs-White sends Williams storming down the left wing. Van Hecke wins the header again from Danilo’s corner and Brighton clear their lines.
05:28 PM GMT
11 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Van Hecke is clipped by Awoniyi and Brighton’s players are up in arms but it wasn’t that nasty. Worthy of a free-kick but not much else.
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Fabian Hurzeler watches his players try to cope with Forest’s shape - Toby Melville/REUTERS
05:25 PM GMT
9 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Anderson strides through central midfield, glides between Rutter and Baleba but Brighton crowd Awoniyi out when he receives the pass. Brighton break and Rutter almost squeezes a pass through to Minteh. Murillo cut it out.
05:24 PM GMT
7 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Mitoma shows us his pace by spinning 10 yards outside his won box after receiving a cute pass from Ayari. But Aina sticks with his doggedly and manages to disrupt his progress by sticking a foot in at just the right moment.
05:22 PM GMT
5 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Minteh is caught offside chasing Hinshelwood’s chip up the right. Forest shift the ball from the free-kick from side to side and then clip it long. Verbruggen’s clearance takes a deflection and goes out for a Brighton throw.
05:20 PM GMT
3 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Forest corner on the left after solid defensive work from Rutter. Brighton win the first header and move the ball upfield. Forest are very narrow by design, using the full-backs to provide it with Gibbs-White playing off Awoniyi so far.
05:18 PM GMT
2 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
Wayne Rooney on Nuno resting Hudson-Odoi and Elanga:
05:17 PM GMT
1 min: Brighton 0 Nottingham Forest 0
There’s a pall of smoke above the pitch as Forest kick off, play it back to Sels who launches it 70 yards up the left. Brighton win the header and Rutter draws a foul on halfway.
05:12 PM GMT
The teams are in the tunnel
Both sides in their home kits, Brighton in blue and white, Forest in garibaldi red and white.
05:06 PM GMT
Nuno speaks to the BBC
04:56 PM GMT
Plan B
04:51 PM GMT
Ryan Yates returns to captain Forest
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Nuno sets Forest up in a narrow formation for the Cup tie with the wingers poised on the bench - REUTERS/Toby Melville
04:34 PM GMT
And now for those of you watching in black and white
Brighton & Hove Albion Verbruggen; Hinshelwood, Van Hecke, Webster, Estupinan; Baleba, Ayari; Minteh, Rutter, Mitoma; Welbeck.
Substitutes McGill, Dunk, Gruda, Joao Pedro, Adingra, Cashin, Gomez, O’Riley, Tasker.
Nottingham Forest: Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Dominguez, Anderson,Yates, Danilo; Gibbs-White, Awoniyi.
Substitutes Carlos Miguel, Morato, Sangare, Hudson-Odoi, Toffolo, Alex, Jota Silva, Elanga, Boly.
Referee Peter Bankes (Merseyside).
04:20 PM GMT
Forest team news
Awoniyi, Danilo and Yates replace Wood, Hudson-Odoi and Elanga as he goes for wingless wonders:
04:18 PM GMT
Brighton team news
Welbeck replaces Joao Pedro who was away with Brazil in Argentina this week:
03:49 PM GMT
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03:49 PM GMT
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03:48 PM GMT
Preview: Breaking records
Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of the FA Cup sixth-round tie between Brighton and Nottingham Forest from dear old Sussex by the Sea. Brighton, one of the four quarter-finalists who have never won the Cup, have been semi-finalists twice in the past six years when they were narrowly beaten under Chris Hughton by Manchester City 1-0 in 2019 and on pens, under Roberto De Zerbi, by Manchester United two years ago. In their only final in 1983 they took it to a replay courtesy of Gordon Smith and on their Thursday night were walloped to the tune of ‘Stevie Foster, Stevie Foster, what a difference you have made’.
Forest, by contrast, have won the Cup twice, in 1898 when they beat their cherished friends Derby 3-1 at Crystal Palace and again in 1959 when Elton’s Uncle Roy broke his leg when they were 2-0 up with an hour still to play but they clung on in those pre-substitute days to beat Luton Town. It was the one trophy that eluded Brian Clough though their last appearance in the semi-final, and indeed final, came under their greatest manager in 1991.
Today they go to Brighton with their 7-0 victory over Albion at the City Ground in February warming their cockles and hopes. The home side would point out that they have won four and drawn one of five in the league and knocked Chelsea and Newcastle out of the Cup since then so are in fine fettle to face the Trees who have not won at the Amex in their last three visits.
Fabian Hüzeler’s side have Matt O’Riley, Lewis Dunk, Joel Veltman and Solly March facing late fitness tests and Ferdi Kadioglu, Tariq Lamptey, Igor Julio and James Milner ruled out. Nuno Espirito Santo said yesterday that Chris Wood’s hip injury will keep him out for another week but is bullish about breaking their 34-year semi-final drought. “As a group and as a club we have managed to change many things. We’ve broken records that have stood for 30, 40 years,” he said. “Suddenly we have another chance to break another. This is how we think. Since the beginning of the FA Cup, we have had only one ambition: to go as far as possible.”
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