What Nuno did after Nottingham Forest FA Cup win as Ryan Yates case made and big question asked
What Nuno did after Nottingham Forest FA Cup win as Ryan Yates case made and big question asked
No sooner had the City Ground erupted, Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo was off.
The Portuguese sported a broad grin and cheered as he pumped his fists and sprinted onto the pitch. Once he had started, he didn’t stop.
No muted celebrations here as the hosts marked reaching the quarter-finals of the FA Cup courtesy of a penalty shootout win over Ipswich Town. Nuno unzipped his coat and looked for a second as if he might shrug it off completely and wheel it around his head.
Instead, he found a weary Ola Aina and offered him a piggyback as the pair made their way over to a melee of Garibaldi Red. This meant a lot.
In the previous round, spot-kick success over Exeter City was met with relief more than anything. On Monday night, it was pure joy. Below, NottinghamshireLive looks at some of the big talking points from Forest’s fifth round tie with the Tractor Boys that ended 1-1 after extra-time and 5-4 to the hosts on penalties.
Yates to the rescue
The Reds were not at their best against Ipswich. They had looked the more likely to score but it was the visitors who broke the deadlock less than 10 minutes into the second half.
Nuno soon sent on the cavalry, in the form of Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson. But it was one of the players in from the start who came to the rescue.
Ryan Yates has had a habit of popping up at important moments during his Forest career. Here was another one to add to the collection – a terrific header from an Anthony Elanga cross. It was a typical show of determination from the midfielder to get on the end of it.
Yates thought he had done the same again soon after but had what would have been his second goal chalked off for offside. Regardless, getting on the scoresheet capped a fine display from the Nigel Doughty Academy graduate.
There must surely be a case for starting him when the focus turns back to the Premier League for the visit of Manchester City on Saturday (12.30pm kick-off). He has made a positive impact in his last two league outings from off the bench and certainly was among the standout performers on Monday night.
Alongside winking and swimming emojis, Yates cheekily posted on Instagram afterwards: “Who’s in the Trent?” It would have taken a brave soul to jump into the river in celebration on a chilly March evening.
Selection call
In the previous two rounds, Nuno very much rotated his squad and reshuffled his line-up from the league fixtures. He did so with the insistence it wasn’t about resting regular starters so much as “rewarding” those players who had seen little by way of game time.
On this occasion, he went stronger than against either Luton Town or Exeter with his XI. It wasn’t quite full-strength, but the likes of Murillo, Ola Aina, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Elanga were all included. With cup keeper Carlos Miguel still sidelined, No.1 Matz Sels took his place between the posts. Nikola Milenkovic was the only first-choice player not to make the match squad at all.
Some of the big-hitters were on the bench – and they were needed. In addition to Gibbs-White and Anderson, Nuno also turned to Chris Wood and Neco Williams as Forest pushed for a winner.
Would it have been better to go with the strongest possible team from the start? Try to get the job done and then take off key men, hopefully when the game is already sewn up? Anderson and Gibbs-White ended up playing an hour anyway. Wood and Williams close to 40 minutes.
It is a tough balance to strike. Nuno wants to ensure everyone has minutes in their legs as he has been clear the full squad will have a role to play in the run-in. Other than Yates and Ibrahim Sangare, though, few of those who stepped in really stuck their hands up to keep their places in league action.
Perfect penalties
Nuno finds it almost unbearable to watch spot-kicks. He cannot look. But Forest were excellent from 12 yards, just as they were against Exeter.
Planning for the possibility of a shootout formed a key part of their match preparation once again, and it paid off. Wood, Gibbs-White, Anderson, Williams and Hudson-Odoi were all clinical and nerveless in front of the Trent End. If England boss Thomas Tuchel was still in the stands at that point, he would have watched with interest as a trio of Three Lions contenders (Gibbs-White, Anderson and Hudson-Odoi) fired in – after all, he might need penalty practitioners at some point.
The Tractor Boys took some good kicks, too, but Sels made a terrific save to deny Jack Taylor and send his team through. The Belgian immediately wheeled off halfway down the pitch in celebration before being mobbed by his teammates. It was characteristic of Yates that he held off for a moment and went over to console the Ipswich man first.
“I’m happy I could help the team to the next round,” Sels said on ITV afterwards (via the BBC). “It was the only penalty I was in the right corner. Before the game you study penalties and I took the wrong corner but that was right. I am happy for the team.
“The game was not so good. In the end extra time is a gamble, you don’t want to gamble too much. In penalties one of the goalkeepers is going to be the hero. I am happy.”
Quarter-final spot
Forest did not play well, and conceding from a set-piece again will be a bit of a concern. It was poor defending to allow George Hirst to head in unmarked at the far post from a corner.
But cup football is all about getting over the line and getting the job done. The Reds have done that and will now head to Brighton and Hove Albion later this month to battle for a place in a Wembley semi-final.
Monday night felt like a big moment. It was certainly celebrated as such. This is already proving to be a very special season for Nuno’s side and that was another huge step. The team spirit, unity and resilience that has carried Forest a long way so far was on show once again.
In his post-match press conference, Nuno was asked whether he would prefer to qualify for the Champions League or win the FA Cup. “Tough to decide. I’ll take both,” he said. “Let’s go game by game. Nothing changes in the way we have to approach games. Now we have to focus on (Manchester) City.”
Finding a way to win is just as important in the Premier League as it is in cup contests. The Reds might have a few tired bodies after Monday night, but they will hope they also have some important momentum as the campaign heads towards a crucial stage.
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