‘Matz Sels is a bloody big bloke’ we thought as the goalkeeper tore around the City Ground pitch having saved the penalty that sees Nottingham Forest through to the FA Cup quarter final.
Jack Taylor probably thought the same as he walked up to take the tenth penalty after the first nine had all been dispatched with aplomb to the point where we were questioning whether shootouts should be done away with altogether as an archaic and all-too easy method of deciding a football match.
Taylor also had a spot-kick saved in the Carabao Cup second round shootout defeat to Wimbledon in August and may not take another with that blunder clearly playing on his mind before this latest one. There was a lack of conviction at complete odds with the unstoppable efforts of the nine who went before.
Both managers’ selections suggested neither was overly bothered by the result of this game, with bigger fish to fry in the Premier League. Forest face fellow Champions League-chasers Manchester City on Saturday, while Ipswich travel to Crystal Palace looking for their first win in eight games to claw Wolves back into a relegation battle.
But the draw of Wembley became apparent as the game wore on, with Nuno Espírito Santo bringing the cavalry off the bench on the hour mark after George Hirst gave Ipswich the lead soon after half-time, with Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson turning the tide firmly in the home side’s favour before Ryan Yates drew them level.
Forest pushed up against a stubborn Ipswich defence in a bid to find a winner and couldn’t find a way through, with the home side reliant on man-mountain Sels for the victory and to set up a quarter-final clash with Brighton.
“I’m happy I could help the team to the next round,” Sels said after the game. “It was the only penalty I was in the right corner. Before the game you study penalties and I took the wrong corner but that was right. I am happy for the team.
“The game was not so good. In the end extra time is a gamble, you don’t want to gamble too much. In penalties one of the goalkeepers is going to be the hero. I am happy. Looking forward to the weekend now.”
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Nuno was seen racing onto the pitch before lifting Ola Aina into a piggyback as he celebrated with his players, and hailed the Forest fans in a “flat” game.
He said “The help they gave us in the penalties trying to distract Ipswich players, we thank them a lot.
“The players did their job quite well. We compete well. The first half was flat for both teams. I’m really happy that the boys achieved it and our fans are happy tonight.
“Now it is game by game. We have City then we can focus on the FA Cup. It is a competition we love and we will do out best.”
