Exeter City 2-2 Nottingham Forest (2-4): FLW reports as Forest avoid Grecians banana skin | OneFootball

All the action from another magical FA Cup tie in Devon, as Exeter City hosted high-flying Nottingham Forest.

Nottingham Forest needed a penalty shootout to edge past League One Exeter City in the FA Cup fourth round after a crazy match that saw almost 150 minutes of football played.

Exeter got off to the perfect start inside four minutes. Carlos Miguel fumbled a routine cross which landed at the feet of Josh Magennis, who couldn't miss from a few yards out.

Forest responded ten minutes later through Roman Sosa. The winger weaved his way through the Exeter defence and just about beat Joe Whitworth with his shot to take the highest-ranked team left in the competition level. Then, Taiwo Awoniyi gave the Premier League side the lead ten minutes before half-time with a low deflected shot that left the Grecians' keeper no chance.

Exeter repeated what they'd done in the first half in the second, as Magennis doubled his tally for the night. The striker's initial shot was blocked by Miguel, but he gobbled up the rebound to fire City level.

After an evenly matched second half, the game was blown wide open when Ed Turns got sent off with just minutes remaining in normal time. Then, Awoniyi was forced off on a stretcher, which led to well over 20 minutes of stoppage time being played.

Neither side found a breakthrough in normal time, which meant the tie needed extra-time to seperate the two sides and find a winner. Even with a numerical advantage, the Premier League side couldn't find the net in the extra 30 minutes, which took the tie to a penalty shootout.

Forest netted all of their penalties, whilst Reece Cole and Jay Bird missed for City, sending the 3rd placed Premier League side into the 5th round, where they'll face Ipswich at home.

Exeter City 2 - 2 Nottingham Forest (2 - 4 Pens)

First half

After four minutes, Exeter almost took an early lead when Vinnie Harper's cross was nearly turned into the Forest net by Willy Boly. From the resultant corner, the Grecians did take the lead. Miguel spilled a routine cross from Demetri Mitchell and the rebound was turned home by Magennis, sending St James Park into raptures.

After the early setback, Forest tried to fight back and were almost rewarded with an equaliser not long after going behind. A shot from the edge of the box by Danilo was well-saved low by Whitworth.

The Crystal Palace loanee almost cost his team minutes later though, as he came rushing off his line and misjudged the ball, giving Forest an open goal, but Harper was alert to the danger and swept the ball clear before it crossed the line.

The Premier League outfit did get their equaliser moments later via Sosa. The Paraguayan found space in the box after weaving his way past the City defence. His shot crashed against the onrushing Whitworth, but still had enough pace to trickle over the line to make it 1-1.

Forest had a golden chance to take the lead on the half-hour mark through Awoniyi. The striker connected well with a superbly pinged pass from Danilo which he directed goalwards. However, Whitworth was there with a scrambling save to deny him.

The ex-Liverpool man did get his goal five minutes later. He received a long ball forward to his feet, controlling it perfectly and twisting his way past Jake Richards. His shot took a deflection on its way through, leaving Whitworth rooted to the spot.

That was it for the first 45 minutes, and Nuno's men took a 2-1 advantage into the dressing room. After the early setback, Forest had been firmly on top throughout the first half and were unlucky not to have extended their advantage beyond a solitary goal. Exeter had some work to do if they wanted to replicate the upset their Devon neighbours pulled off on Sunday.

Second half

City made almost an identical start to the second half as they did in the first, scoring after mere minutes. Once again, it was that man Magennis who doubled his tally for night. His initial shot was saved by Miguel, but the rebound fell kindly to the Northern Irishman, who steered it home to once again send St James Park wild.

The Forest shot-stopper was forced off minutes after conceding his second of the night. An injury brought his night to an early end, which had certainly been one to forget. Usual first-choice Matz Sels took his place.

With 20 minutes left, Nuno was forced to call to his heavy hitters to try and swing the game in their favour. Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson entered the action, as the Premier League side pushed to get it the job done.

Heading into the final ten minutes, a wave of Exeter attack almost saw the Grecians retake the lead for the third time. A cross missed everyone apart from the arriving Turns, who steered the ball back across goal only for it to be hooked off the line.

However, Turns' debut took a turn for the worst just minutes from the full-time. The debutant slid in recklessly on Gibbs-White, which resulted in a needless red card to give Gary Caldwell a huge headache as extra time beckoned.

A collision between Awoniyi and Whitworth left the Nigerian striker on the deck following a nasty whack to his head. The scorer of Forest's second goal had to be taken off on a stretcher deep into stoppage time. He was replaced by Chris Wood and the game would have at least another ten minutes added on, after the initial allocation of ten minutes.

The FA Cup often provides moments of madness, and this game was no exception. Both sides had chances to win it, but neither took them. The ten men of Exeter came within inches of scoring twice through substitutes Pat Jones and Jay Bird, whilst Forest smashed the post through Jota Silva in the dying seconds of normal time. However, after almost 120 minutes of normal time, there was another 30 minutes still needed to find a winner.

Extra time and penalties

Magennis could've made it a hat-trick early on in the first half of extra time, stinging Sels' palms with a venomous half-volley from outside of the box. Whitworth wasn't going to be beaten easily either, getting all his weight behind a powerful drive from Gibbs-White.

There really wasn't much to comment on in the opening 15 minutes of the extra 30. Wave after wave of Forest attack came and went with no rewards as their League One opponents stuck all ten men behind the ball and dug in defensively. The Grecians had a penalty shootout within touching distance, they just needed to hold on for another 15 minutes.

Whitworth bailed his side out once again early in the second half of extra time, denying a Boly header directly from a corner as the defender towered above everyone else to direct a shot goalwards. The Palace loanee then denied Wood a couple minutes later, as Nottingham Forest cranked up the pressure.

Despite the constant barrage of Forest attacks, City defended stoutly and took the highest-ranked side remaining in the FA Cup to a penalty shootout. The Big Bank roared as the penalties were to be taken in front of the adoring home end.

After Magennis and Wood converted, Cole would have his efforted save by Sels. Gibbs-White then converted his penalty to give Forest a 2-1 advantage. Bird smashed the crossbar and Anderson then converted his penalty to give Exeter a mountain to climb. Despite Tony Yogane cooly slotting past Sels, the Premier League side won the shootout through Neco Williams, who made it four perfect penalties for Forest, sending them into round five of the cup.

Exeter City player ratings

J. Whitworth - 8

I. Niskanen - 6

J. McMillan - 6 (J. Bird 90+12'())

A. MacDonald - 7

E. Turns - 5 (Sent off 87')

V. Harper - 8 (P. Jones 83'(7))

J. Richards - 7 (R. Cole 83'(6))

E. Francis - 7 (R. Woods 83'(6))

D. Mitchell - 7 (T. Yogane 74'(6))

R. Trevitt - 6 (C. Watts 71'(6))

J. Magennis - 8

Unused substitutes: S. MacDonald, B. Purrington, J. Aitchison

Nottingham Forest player ratings

C. Miguel - 4 (M. Selz 59'(7))

E. Da Silva Moreira - 6

W. Boly - 6

H. Toffolo - 6

A. Moreno - 5 (N. Williams 91'(6))

R. Yates - 6 (E. Anderson 72'(7))

I. Sangare - 6 (M. Gibbs-White 72'(7))

Danilo - 7 (N. Dominguez 59'(6))

R. Sosa - 7

T. Awoniyi - 8 (C. Wood 90+12'(6))

Jota Silva - 6

Unused substitutes: Morato, A. Elanga, Z. Abbott

Match attendance

It was a full house at St James Park on the chilly Tuesday evening, with 8330 supporters in total and 1354 making the trip down from Nottingham.