Chris Wood netted an extra-time winner as Nottingham Forest beat Blackpool 3-2 at Bloomfield Road in their 2023-24 FA Cup Third Round replay.
Wood turned in Ryan Yates’ 110th minute low cross to seal victory for Forest in a pulsating contest, which saw Andrew Omobamidele’s volley in the 16th minute and Danilo’s 46th minute rebound strike initially put Forest into a comfortable lead.
Albie Morgan’s powerful 61st minute shot into the top-left corner and Kyle Joseph’s 78th minute header however saw Blackpool fight back to force extra time.
Speaking to ITV4 post-match, Wood praised his teammates for a scrappy but deserved win as he commented: “It’s about getting to the next round, we had to do it ugly again. We made it hard for ourselves as we did at the City Ground.”
Nottingham Forest will visit Bristol City at Ashton Gate in their Fourth Round tie, which will be played at 7:45pm GMT on Friday 26 January.
Following their comeback draw on their own turf at the City Ground, Forest have had a week-and-a-half to prepare for this game, which nearly paid off after five minutes as Nuno Tavares’ corner cross was headed upon by Murillo but Daniel Grimshaw made a crucial save.
Blackpool are unbeaten in nine of their last ten games at Bloomfield Road and heeded that warning, with the Tangerines soon desperate to score the opening goal amidst wasted chances.
Forest however broke forward apace in the 16th minute as Nicolas Dominguez’s cross was played forward by Yates for Neco Williams, from which the Wales interntional forced a block from James Husband.
Yates saw a header from the consequential corner deflected behind, yet he quickly involved again as he nodded the following corner-kick across for Omobamidele to volley in at the left-post to put the Premier League visitors ahead.
Blackpool came close to an equaliser in the 31st minute as Morgan dragged a 25-yard shot wide of the bottom-right corner, after Forest had cleared an initial corner to Sonny Carey who had teed up the midfielder – who had joined from Charlton last summer.
Marvin Ekpiteta meanwhile saw his 45th minute low cross roll across the face of the goal with nobody unable to make a connection, as Forest protected their narrow lead into half-time.
Blackpool had failed to convert any of their three first-half shots onto target and their Fourth Round dreams worsened 49 seconds into the second half, after Morgan’s backpass to Grimshaw was intercepted then deflected out for Danilo to smash in Forest’s second goal.
Grimshaw picked up an upper-right arm injury during an collision in that incident and was substituted in the 58th minute for Richard O’Donnell, during which Blackpool began to up their intensity and pace.
That improvement from the Tangerines soon proved fruitful in the 61st minute as CJ Hamilton began a quick attacking move around the box, which saw his cross eventually blocked out to Morgan who calmly rifled his shot into the top-left corner from the edge of the box.
Forest almost reclaimed their two-goal lead five minutes later as Dominguez teed up an incoming Williams but his shot was eventually blocked.
Blackpool continued to push for a leveller as Callum Connolly headed wide from a 72nd minute corner, but an unlikely equaliser came six minutes later as Joseph nodded in at the right-post from Andy Lyons’ short cross at the left-post.
Such was Blackpool’s momentum that Jordan Gabriel drew a 84th minute foul from Murillo but referee, Darren Bond waved away penalty appeals from the home team as he instead adjudged the incident as unintentional.
Neither team subsequently found a winner within the remainder of the regulatory 90 minutes plus a further 10 minutes of injury-time, as Blackpool took Forest to extra time after Karamoko Dembele saw two chances denied in the additional time.
There were little chances of note in the first half of extra time which ended with a medical emergency in the main stand, which saw the medical crews of both teams dash over from the dugout to assist the paramedics with the restart briefly delayed.
Despite Blackpool’s valiant defending, Forest found their third goal in the 110th minute after Yates turned in a low cross which Wood duly poked in from close-range to put the visitors back in front.
Wood and Danilo saw further shots saved by O’Donnell but Forest ultimately saw the rest of extra-time out to book their spot in the Fourth Round.
What’s Next?
Blackpool will visit Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Ground in a League One match on Saturday 20 January at 3pm GMT, as both clubs look to boost their play-off ambitions.
Forest now head to Brentford in a must-win clash in the race for Premier League survival, which takes place at Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday 20 January at 5:30pm.
Teams
Blackpool: Daniel Grimshaw (O’Donnell 58′), Callum Connolly, Marvin Ekpiteta, James Husband, Jordan Gabriel (Dale 105′), Oliver Noburn, Albie Morgan, Andy Lyons, CJ Hamilton (Dembele 71′), Sonny Carey (Lavery 71′), Jordan Rhodes (Joseph 71′)
Substitutes: Richard O’Donnell, Matthew Pennington, Owen Dale, Kyle Joseph, Karamoko Dembele, Matty Virtue, Shayne Lavery, Oliver Casey, Tashan Oakley-Boothe
Nottingham Forest: Vlachodimos Odysseas, Neco Williams (Montiel 103′), Andrew Omobamidele (Worrall 105′), Murillo (McKenna 102′), Nuno Tavares (Toffolo 86′), Danilo, Orel Mangala, Ryan Yates, Nicolas Dominguez, Callum Hudson-Odoi (Aguilera 86′), Chris Wood
Substitutes: Matt Turner, Joe Worrall, Harry Toffolo, Scott McKenna, Gonzalo Montiel, Brandon Aguilera, Detlef Osonga, Jamie McDonnell, Joe Gardner
Referee – Darren Bond
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