Nuno Espirito Santo expressed relief after Nottingham Forest avoided a fourth-round FA Cup upset by beating Exeter City on penalties.
Forest, third in the Premier League and the highest-ranked team left in the FA Cup, prevailed 4-2 on spot-kicks at St James Park following a 2-2 draw after extra time.
Through to the @EmiratesFACup fifth round. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/GMFktppfQm
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) February 11, 2025
They will host Ipswich Town in the fifth round at the City Ground at the start of next month.
“I’m relieved, I think we all are,” Forest boss Nuno said after Neco Williams had dispatched a fourth perfect penalty for the visitors.
“It was not the best game, of course. We started bad but we reacted well.”
He continued: “In terms of the first half we were really dominant, created and changed the score.
“The second half the idea was to close the game down, but we conceded from a set-piece and everything changed.
“Exeter had one man less, so a lot of credit to them, but we rushed decisions and we are happy that we go through.”
Forest trailed after five minutes when Josh Magennis capitalised on a mistake from goalkeeper Carlos Miguel to strike from close range.
Ramon Sosa and Taiwo Awoniyi replied to put Forest ahead by half-time, but Magennis’ second, which was deflected in off the post by Willy Boly, sent the game towards an additional 30 minutes.
Exeter debutant Ed Turns was sent off in the 87th minute for a high challenge on Morgan Gibbs-White, also a penalty scorer alongside Chris Wood, Elliot Anderson and Williams.
But Forest could not make their extra man count, despite Jota Silva crashing a shot against the crossbar and Wood twice going close.
Victory came at a price with injuries to Awoniyi, who was treated by medics late on for around 10 minutes after colliding with Exeter goalkeeper Joe Whitworth, and Miguel.
Nuno has confirmed that Taiwo Awoniyi sustained a broken nose following an aerial collision in tonight's cup tie.
Wishing you a speedy recovery, T! 🙏 pic.twitter.com/1cLRMWNRI3
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) February 11, 2025
Nuno said of Awoniyi: “It was a concussion and I think he broke his nose, so he’s in a lot of pain.
“But he has a smile on his face because he did an amazing job. He scored and we are delighted for him.
“I think Carlos was a hamstring on a goal-kick.”
Exeter, 18th in Sky Bet League One and 59 places below Forest on the football ladder, had lost four of their previous five games in a winless run and conceded 10 goals in their last two fixtures.
Grecians boss Gary Caldwell told ITV: “I am really proud of the team and the whole football club really.
“We just came up short on penalties, which is a lottery.
“I thought we were outstanding. With 10 men it was backs against the wall. We could have won or lost it near the end. It is a fantastic effort from the players.
“I think it shows the potential and what they are capable of and they can raise their game.
“We have to show that commitment to each other and if we do that, I am sure we have got a lot to look forward to. We have set the minimum standard.”
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