8:20PM Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest are in the hat. Will Aston Villa or Preston North End, Bournemouth or Manchester City, join them. Villa and City if the trend is for two-word clubs rather than ones and fours so far.
8:17PM I was a bit nervous to be fair and I was so relieved when it went in. Mats saved two penalties and I thought I’ve got to capitalise and take us to Wembley.
It’s an incredible season. We’ve achieved nothing yet but to send these lot [gestures to the fans] to Wembley again after last time [play-off final] I’m so pleased for them.
8:12PM Like a young David Pleat galloping upfield with the bench and his colleagues in tow to slide in front of the away fans and ignite the celebrations of reaching their first Cup semi for 34 years.
8:10PM Forest win 4-3 on penalties. Wembley here they come.
Whacked it into the bottom left.
8:10PM Same way as Milenkovic. Sidefoot into the bottom right.
Brighton 3 Forest 3
8:09PM But only just. Slips it under Verbruggen’s dive into the bottom right.
Brighton 2 Forest 3
8:08PM Thumped it down the middle. Keeper didn’t have to move.
Brighton 2 Forest 2
8:07PM Leans back. Oh dear. Back to all square!
Brighton 2 Forest 2
8:05PM Looked nervous and the keeper guessed right. Too tamely struck to the bottom right. Not in the corner.
Brighton 2 Forest 2
8:05PM Excellent pen, top left.
Brighton 2 Forest 2
8:04PM Sends the keeper the wrong way and rolls it into the bottom left. Eyes!
Brighton 2 Forest 1
8:03PM Bottom right. Calm as you like. Keeper went early.
Brighton 1 Forest 1
8:02PM Top left. Emphatic.
Brighton 1 Forest 0
8:01PM And the penalties will take place in front of their home end.
Joao Pedro to take. Sels is reading his notes.
7:58PM Gary Lineker points out that Brighton have lost their last three shoot-outs while Firest have won all theirs in the FA Cup.
Brighton were better in extra-time, Forest in the 90 minutes. But neither decisively so.
7:57PM Forest try to send Elanga through with a long ball over the top after Joao Pedro loses it. Then back come Brighton, but apart from a speculative penalty shout, the game ends with no further shot on traget.
7:55PM Joao Pedro’s mazy run in from the left ends when he shoots from 18 yards, straight into the sliding man of the match Milenkovic.
7:54PM Joao Pedro knocks the ball into the goal after Estupinan headed across from the left from an offside position.
Morato → Gibbs-White.
Gibbs-White is one of the usual penalty takers so that’s a bit strange.
7:52PM The corner is safety-first and Brighton end up going backwards.
7:51PM Estupinan’s free-kick catches the top of the wall and goes behind for a corner.
7:51PM Free-kick to Brighton a inch or two from the 18-yard line when Joao Pedro seems to trip himself having tried to roll Murillo. Forest will go berserk should Brighton score from here.
7:49PM Brighton defend the corner and when they lose the ball on the counter, Gruda is booked for a foul.
7:48PM Anderson sticks a long ball in the mixer into the Brighton box. It bounces and catches the wind swirling and catching Van Hecke on his heels. He has two bites at a header and it slides off his brow from the last attempt to fall to Jota whose stabbed shot hits the Dutch defender and deflects behind for a corner.
7:46PM Estupinan shoots, trying to beat Sels at the near post, but hooks it safely wide.
7:46PM Brighton are turning up the tempo and are attacking with urgency now. Free-kick on the right for the home side after Williams’ foul on Adingra.
7:45PM Gruda drives to the byline on the right and pings over a cross on the run that Gomez steers towards goal with an almost perfect header but it can’t beat Sels who soars to tip it over and then catches the corner.
7:43PM Adingra is played down the right and whips over a dipping cross that looked threatening but a brute to control. Diego Gomez slides in to try to take it on the half-volley but he can’t connect properly as all bar a handful of players through the ages would have done.
7:41PM Joao Pedro waves his arms to gee up the home fans before kicking off. Adingra is caught in congestion down the Brighton right and hs to double back. A cross hits Yates on the arm to the inevitable cries of ‘Penalty!’ but there was no real offence.
7:38PM Hurzeler takes out his whiteboard with the coloured magnets and gives his players a quick tactical brush-up.
7:38PM Brighton free-kick, 40 yards out for a trip. Estupinan floats it beyond the left post and Dunk heads over.
7:37PM Brighton corner after a crisp Williams tackle on Adingra. Yates goes down when battling for the header and the ref awards Forest a free-kick. This game needed euthanising with a shoot-out on 90 minutes, as Gary Lineker advocated.
7:35PM Hudson-Odoi slices a cross from a tight angle behind for a goal-kick.
7:34PM Adingra’s cross from the right ends with a Forest free-kick as Aina hits the deck when hit midair by Gomez.
7:31PM Estupinan and Dunk collide, the left-back’s shoulder hitting his captain in the side of the head, as they both rose to head away Elanga’s cross.
7:30PM Yates is booked for a cynical foul on Gruda who was threatening to drive into the penalty box with a fine run. From the free-kick they work the short passes to open up a shooting chance for Gomez who takes a touch and then skims a half-volley into Milenkovic. Minteh tries to keep the attack going but dumps his cross on to the roof of the net.
7:27PM Forest on the attack with Hudson-Odoi who feeds a pass from the left to Dominguez who falls as he tries to shoot and fires it into Grudas shins. Then Elanga’s cross from the right is flicked out for a Forest throw.
Jota Silva → Dominguez.
7:25PM Chance for Diego Gomez scuppered by caution. He was to the left of the penalty spot when played in by Estupinan’s wonderful pass but took a touch which allowed Milenkovic to smother the shot when it belatedly came. Groans all round.
7:24PM Brighton force Murillo on halfway to go back to Sels who hoofs the ball out for a Brighton throw.
7:21PM Dunk → Webster.
After a delay for the ref’s radio to be changed, Forest kick off.
And back to the shadowboxing,
7:15PM Two good sides. Rubbish game so far.
7:14PM Brighton have all 11 men behind the balll now as Forest try to break them down. But they cannot find the key.
7:13PM Elanga and Dominguez link up on the right in the pocket and the latter eventually pulls back a pass to Yates on the 18-yard line to control and tee up a shot that he blazes miles over.
7:11PM Webster is unable to be replaced until full time of normal time given they have used all three substitution windows. So he limps on.
7:10PM During that attack Webster twanged his hamstring.
7:10PM Aina glides up the right, the ball never seemingly under control, but breaks past three players, plays a one-two with Dominguez. stumbles just by the byline but somehow digs out a cross at the last moment that Gibbs-White meets with a diving header. VAn hecke hooks it away and Williams whistles another cross through the six-yard box and comically Aina, who was lying off the pitch, crawls back on and tries to launch himself off the floor to reach. All in vain.
7:06PM Gomez is penalised for a foul on Anderson in which he seemed to get a touch on the ball.
Gibbs-White chips the free-kick to the back post after a long delay and his improvised volley is scuffed and easily foiled by Verbruggen. Good chance that.
7:04PM Eight minutes of stoppage time to come. As Matthew Upson says, hopefully tempting fate, that he can’t see a goal in normal time.
7:03PM Forest drop back to cover with Yates and Anderson stepping into central defence when Minteh tries to get the better of Williams. They do their jobs to the letter.
7:01PM Dominguez is booked for swiping his arm in dissent after being penalised for bumping Estupinan before they were to challenge for a header.
7:00PM Just isn’t working for either side in terms of the final ball into their runners. Looks like we’re headed to extra-time.
6:58PM Dominguez tries to send Aina in behind Estupinan but overcooks the pass forcing Aina into an emergency stop on the touchline.
6:56PM Yates trips Adingra and the home crowd celebrates wildly and sarcastically to make a point to the referee.
6:54PM A fourth change for Brighton:
Diego Gómez → Ayari.
6:52PM Gibbs-White crashes into the post and comes a cropper as he slides in to try to turn in Elanga’s cross into the six-yard box. I think the Forest fans are singing ‘Thomas Tuchel, he’s a w—–, he’s a w—–’ for not giving Gibbs-White a game against Albania or Latvia.
6:50PM Forest whip the corner from the left deep, too deep, and Anderson is unable to keep it in.
6:49PM No, he cannot go on.
Gruda → Rutter.
6:49PM Rutter is injured when slipping and looks unable to continue. The physios are giving him treatment but the way they’re talking to the bench it looks like his race is run. His ankle just crumpled.
6:47PM Double change:
Adingra → Mitoma
Joao Pedro → Welbeck.
6:42PM Forest’s bench has gone potty, claiming, one presumes, there wasn’t clear enough evidence to overturn it.
I must say I’m hugely surprised that decision has been overturned. Mitoma has taken Anderson down, hasn’t he? It’s weird, yes, but the Brighton winger didn’t touch the ball. And he certainly touched the man.
6:39PM Bankes takes to the microphone to say ‘no foul was committed by the defender’.
6:39PM Forest will be fuming. Anderson trod on Mitoma but could you say Mitoma was reckless? I don’t think it’s a pen.
6:38PM There were two shouts, the first on Yates by Webster which looked fair, that he turned down, the second when Mitoma slides oin on Anderson and the Firest midfielder treads on his arm.
6:36PM Estupinan is booked for slipping and crashing into Dominguez with his right-foot lancing his opponent’s metatarsals. Forest free-kick, wide right, about 22 yards from the goal-line.
There’s a different edge to this game now. The crowd can feel it, too. Brighton have been much more aggressive since the break.
6:35PM Hudson-Odoi → Danilo
Elanga → Awoniyi.
Elanga lines up as iof he’s going to be the central striker with Gibbs-White to the right.
6:34PM Hudson Odoi and Elanga are stripped of their tracksuits and being spoken to earnestly by one of the Forest coaches.
Baleba is penalised for handball when chest-trapping the ball and watching it roll down his biceps to his forearm and then into his path.
It’s Ramadan and the break allows Ayari and Minteh to break their fasts.
6:31PM Estupinan takes the corner on the right with his left, swinging it into the six-yard box. Van Hecke has a good run at it but perhaps didn’t shout as Hinshelwood beats him to it from a worse position and can only turn it over the bar as he twisted his neck.
6:30PM Van Hecke runs on to the free-kick which was chipped to the back post and heads it firmly… straight into the covering Yates who diverts it behind for a corner.
6:29PM The home side’s greater urgency has roused their fans who were very quiet in the first half. Minteh hits top speed to take on Williams who goes down as they fight for the ball in the box and buys his side a free-kick. Moments later Mitoma has a run and the free-kick goes the other way.
6:25PM Brighton defend the corner solidly, as they have done in the teeth of all of them. They seem to be moving the ball quicker too, and work it out to Mitoma who swings in a cross with his left from the left that catches Welbeck on his heels which allows Sels to come off his line to gather.
6:23PM Gibbs-White gets his nose over the ball 25 yards out and puts his laces through it. Verbruggen helps it over, taking no chances though it seemed to be on trajectory to vault the bar.
6:22PM Ayari takes the corner short to Mitoma who gives it back to him. Having broadened the angle he shapes to cross then dinks it into Rutter’s feet and he drops his shoulder, rolls Williams and drills a rising shot over the bar from an angle of about 45 degrees,
6:20PM No changes at half-time. Webster chips the ball up the inside-left and Brighton are on the front foot. Welbeck snatching at a shot and Ayari earning a corner with his cross.
6:05PM A feast of sterility as Forest set up cautiously to rope-a-dope Brighton who seem scarred by the 7-0 and hence too slow and risk-averse.
6:03PM Mitoma dribbles down the left and crosses. Anderson hooks it away and Baleba absolutely thumps a 22-yard half-volley inches wide of the right post that smacks a camera, set up remotely, right in the lens. Hope the photographer has a sound insurance policy as that seems like a write-off.
6:00PM Mitoma treads on Dominguez’s toe and catches him in the goolies with his arm. Nuno wants more than a free-kick but it looked accidental.
Forest’s full-backs are doing a good job on Brighton’s wingers. Mitoma and Minteh have produced nothing of note yet.
5:59PM Hinshelwood has space ahead and starts to motor into it but when Danilo launches into the press he forces him to go back and play it infield cautiously.
5:58PM Brighton have grown into the game in the last 10 minutes but Forest have proven all season that their defensive organisation is enviable. Nuno learnt a lot when playing for Mourinho at Porto.
5:56PM Rutter spots Mitoma lurking on Milenkovic’s right shoulder and clips a pass that the winger tries to nod past the centre-half and then shoot but the ball is a touch too high and by heading it at the apex of his leap he loses control and it bounces too close to Sels.
5:55PM Williams cuts back inside when initially sent down the left with the defence lopsided. Brighton quickly recovered and pressed him out of possession.
5:52PM Anderson snaps into a tackle on Mitoma to win the ball and then sprays a pass down the right for Gibbs-White. He whips a very inviting cross through the six-yard box that bypasses the diving Verbruggen but Awoniyi can’t reach it either even though he telescopes out his left leg in a desperate lunge.
5:49PM Space opens up in front of Estupinan 25 yards out so he puts his laces through a shot, making it swerve and dip just in front of Sels who blocks it, awkward bounce and all, with string forearms.
Not a thriller, so far. Morgan Gibbs-White has probably been the most eye-catching player on the pitch, with Forest the better team overall.
5:48PM Perhaps Nuno is thinking more of his bench as finishers rather than substitutes. Forest’s shape with Dominguez tucked in on the right and Danilo on the left has disrupted Brighton’s rhythm. Almost as if they’re being softened up to be knocked out by Hudson-Odoi and Elanga.
5:44PM Ayari whistles a 22-yard daisy-cutter with his left wide of the right post via a touch off Yates who was closing him down. The chance opened up with a good tackle on Anderson and Mitoma’s dart down the left.
5:41PM Hinshelwood joins Minteh down the right and they work it between them and then on to Rutter who flicks it to Ayari. He looks for Welbeck but hammers the pass at him and also too high to control.
5:39PM Brighton have barely had 10 per cent possession in the past five minutes. They simply cannot hang on to the ball as Forest treat the ball as if they treasure it with their probing and movement.
5:37PM Mitoma puts the first corner behind for another. Van Hecke beats Milenkovic to head it away.
5:36PM Hinshelwood slides to block Gibbs-White cross. It catches him on the arm and goes behind. Not a penalty as he was close and his contact not unnatural.
5:35PM Baleba puts his laces through a half volley a big old up and under for Minteh to chase up the right but he runs out of grass. Gibbs-White spears a pass crossfield out to Dominguez racing down the inside-right. But he doesn’t have the pace to sprint past Ayari.
5:33PM Good save from Verbruggen at the near post with his right foot when Aina spins a pass between Van Hecke and Estupinan and Awoniyi smears a low shot that needed a strong block.
5:29PM Forest corner after an excellent pass from Gibbs-White sends Williams storming down the left wing. Van Hecke wins the header again from Danilo’s corner and Brighton clear their lines.
5:28PM Van Hecke is clipped by Awoniyi and Brighton’s players are up in arms but it wasn’t that nasty. Worthy of a free-kick but not much else.
5:25PM Anderson strides through central midfield, glides between Rutter and Baleba but Brighton crowd Awoniyi out when he receives the pass. Brighton break and Rutter almost squeezes a pass through to Minteh. Murillo cut it out.
5:24PM Mitoma shows us his pace by spinning 10 yards outside his won box after receiving a cute pass from Ayari. But Aina sticks with his doggedly and manages to disrupt his progress by sticking a foot in at just the right moment.
5:22PM Minteh is caught offside chasing Hinshelwood’s chip up the right. Forest shift the ball from the free-kick from side to side and then clip it long. Verbruggen’s clearance takes a deflection and goes out for a Brighton throw.
5:20PM Forest corner on the left after solid defensive work from Rutter. Brighton win the first header and move the ball upfield. Forest are very narrow by design, using the full-backs to provide it with Gibbs-White playing off Awoniyi so far.
5:18PM Wayne Rooney on Nuno resting Hudson-Odoi and Elanga:
I am shocked. The FA Cup is such a prestigious tournament and to rest players in a quarter final when you;’ve a great opportunity to get to a semi-final. They are trying to get CL football, which is fine, that’s great. But as a player you want to play, you want to get momentum, you want to keep trying to try and win games and to leave players out…
If I was a fan I would be fuming. You want to win silverware and this is a great opportunity. To leave players out when they are not guaranteed to win the game Tuesday. It’s beyond belief for me.
5:17PM There’s a pall of smoke above the pitch as Forest kick off, play it back to Sels who launches it 70 yards up the left. Brighton win the header and Rutter draws a foul on halfway.
5:12PM Both sides in their home kits, Brighton in blue and white, Forest in garibaldi red and white.
5:06PM The Cup is a good chance for players who work hard bu don’t have minutes in the Premier League. Danilo is working good and deserves a chance.
Game by game, each day at a time, that is our approach.
4:56PM The previous meeting between these teams was such a disaster for Brighton that their head coach, Fabian Hurzeler, literally set fire to his tactical plan afterwards. He used a cigarette lighter, apparently.
That might sound a bit dramatic to those of us on the outside, but it has certainly worked for the Brighton squad. Such has been their improvement, they are now only two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea in the Premier League. The Champions League is a real possibility… but they must not let that distract them from this FA Cup tie. Win today and they are two games away from the first major trophy in their history.
4:34PM Brighton & Hove Albion Verbruggen; Hinshelwood, Van Hecke, Webster, Estupinan; Baleba, Ayari; Minteh, Rutter, Mitoma; Welbeck.
Substitutes McGill, Dunk, Gruda, Joao Pedro, Adingra, Cashin, Gomez, O’Riley, Tasker.
Nottingham Forest: Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Dominguez, Anderson,Yates, Danilo; Gibbs-White, Awoniyi.
Substitutes Carlos Miguel, Morato, Sangare, Hudson-Odoi, Toffolo, Alex, Jota Silva, Elanga, Boly.
Referee Peter Bankes (Merseyside).
4:20PM Awoniyi, Danilo and Yates replace Wood, Hudson-Odoi and Elanga as he goes for wingless wonders:
4:18PM Welbeck replaces Joao Pedro who was away with Brazil in Argentina this week:
3:49PM Take a look at these best betting sites to back your selection.
3:48PM Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of the FA Cup sixth-round tie between Brighton and Nottingham Forest from dear old Sussex by the Sea. Brighton, one of the four quarter-finalists who have never won the Cup, have been semi-finalists twice in the past six years when they were narrowly beaten under Chris Hughton by Manchester City 1-0 in 2019 and on pens, under Roberto De Zerbi, by Manchester United two years ago. In their only final in 1983 they took it to a replay courtesy of Gordon Smith and on their Thursday night were walloped to the tune of ‘Stevie Foster, Stevie Foster, what a difference you have made’.
Forest, by contrast, have won the Cup twice, in 1898 when they beat their cherished friends Derby 3-1 at Crystal Palace and again in 1959 when Elton’s Uncle Roy broke his leg when they were 2-0 up with an hour still to play but they clung on in those pre-substitute days to beat Luton Town. It was the one trophy that eluded Brian Clough though their last appearance in the semi-final, and indeed final, came under their greatest manager in 1991.
Today they go to Brighton with their 7-0 victory over Albion at the City Ground in February warming their cockles and hopes. The home side would point out that they have won four and drawn one of five in the league and knocked Chelsea and Newcastle out of the Cup since then so are in fine fettle to face the Trees who have not won at the Amex in their last three visits.
Fabian Hüzeler’s side have Matt O’Riley, Lewis Dunk, Joel Veltman and Solly March facing late fitness tests and Ferdi Kadioglu, Tariq Lamptey, Igor Julio and James Milner ruled out. Nuno Espirito Santo said yesterday that Chris Wood’s hip injury will keep him out for another week but is bullish about breaking their 34-year semi-final drought. “As a group and as a club we have managed to change many things. We’ve broken records that have stood for 30, 40 years,” he said. “Suddenly we have another chance to break another. This is how we think. Since the beginning of the FA Cup, we have had only one ambition: to go as far as possible.”
