March 20, (THEWILL) — Nottingham Forest are through to the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals after defeating Midtjylland on penalties at MCH Arena, completing a remarkable turnaround in the round of 16.
Forest dominated the first half without reward until the 40th minute, when Nicolas Dominguez looped a header into the net to give the visitors the lead on the night. Ryan Yates had earlier struck the crossbar, while Philip Billing cleared a Morata effort off the line.
Seven minutes after the restart, Yates doubled Forest’s advantage, shifting onto his left foot before driving a strike into the far corner past Olafsson. That cushion did not last long, however, with Martin Erlic crashing a close-range half-volley into the top-left corner on 69 minutes to level the aggregate tie at 2-2.
Neither side could find a winner in normal time or extra time. Nigeria international Ola Aina went close late in regulation but blazed over, and Yates had a header ruled out for offside in the 118th minute.
In the shootout that followed, Morgan Gibbs-White and Ibrahim Sangare both found the net for Forest, while Cho Gue-Sung and Aral Simsir struck the woodwork for Midtjylland. Neco Williams then converted to make it 3-0, before Edward Chilufya slipped at the decisive moment and sent the ball over the crossbar, sealing Forest’s place in the last eight.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
