Nottingham Forest advanced to the Europa League quarter-finals with a penalty shootout victory over Midtjylland.
Forest manager Vitor Pereira left a number of key players on the bench ahead of Sunday’s crucial Premier League game against Tottenham, broadcast live on Sky Sports, and insisted he had done “what he had to do” by making nine changes from last weekend’s game against Fulham before facing their relegation-placed rivals.
Midtjylland, who beat Forest for the second time this season in the first leg, held a one-goal lead but Morgan Gibbs-White, Elliott Anderson and Igor Jesus were all substituted.
However, Forest were the much better team in Denmark, dominating the first half and deservedly equalizing with a header from Nicolas Dominguez and an arrow shot from Ryan Yates breaking through for either team.
Sunday, March 22, 2:00 p.m.
2:15pm kickoff
Gibbs-White, Anderson, Murillo, Ola Aina and Neco Williams all came on in the second half, but were unable to prevent Martin Erik from leveling the scores for the hosts with 20 minutes left, or find a late winner.
In extra-time, goals by Forest striker Lorenzo Lucca and captain Yates were ruled out for offside, sending the game to penalties, but Midtjylland were denied twice at the same post and missed their third spot-kick, with clever strikes from Gibbs-White, Ibrahim Sangare and Williams sending Forest on to face Porto.
Pereira: “Great” Mori team deserves this victory
Vitor Pereira and Neco Williams celebrate after Nottingham Forest’s penalty shoot-out victory in Midfield
Nottingham Forest manager Vitor Pereira:
“We are very happy. Today we proved that we came here to compete and that we have good players. We played well in the first half away on this pitch, at a very high level. In the second half, with the subs, we continued to move forward. We had the opportunity to balance the players’ energy to prepare for the next game.”
“It’s different when you win. The spirit is different, the energy is different. They deserve it because they’re a great group. They have very good players, team spirit and character and they showed it all today.”
“There is no doubt that we have quality and we will compete to achieve our goals. And I would like to thank our supporters, who deserve to continue playing in this Europa League.”
Regarding the starting lineup, he said, “We have an important game in three days, so we did what we had to do.
“Today is a Europa League game. We have ambition, we compete for results and we have the quality to win this game. I believe in the players.”
“I have a responsibility and it is extremely important that the club maintains its position in the Premier League.”
Yates: We’re still dreaming
Nottingham Forest players celebrate Europa League penalty shootout victory in Midtjylland
Nottingham Forest captain Ryan Yates:
“I’m excited that we got through. Penalties are always nerve-wracking and always tough, but I’m really happy with how our players stepped up.”
“It’s not over yet, we’re still dreaming.
“From the first moment, the fans really helped us. Considering the changes, it shows the strength of the depth, the spirit that we have.
“At this stage of the season it’s important to show unity and fight for each other. A lot of players played today but didn’t get a lot of minutes, but a lot of them took their chances.
“That feeling of victory is special. We want to keep that momentum going. There’s a lot of momentum at this stage of the season.
“We hope we can recover well and focus on Tottenham, continue to develop and win.”
Europa League final tournament schedule
Quarterfinals: April 9th and 16th
Semi-finals: April 30th and May 7th
Final: May 20th – Besiktas Stadium, Istanbul
