Midtjylland 1-2 Nottingham Forest (aet, 2-2 agg, 0-3 pens ): Shoot-out win sends Pereira's men into Europa League quarters

  /  autty

Nottingham Forest booked their place in the Europa League quarter-finals after beating Midtjylland 3-0 on penalties after a 2-1 win in normal time of the second leg. 

Having trailed in the tie by one goal after defeat at the City Ground last week, Forest eventually completed the turnaround to draw 2-2 on aggregate before Midtjylland missed all three of their spot-kicks. 

Forest dominated from the first whistle at MCH Arena as Ryan Yates thundered a left-footed effort against the crossbar after being picked out by James McAtee's superb ball into the box before Philip Billing cleared Morata's shot off the line. 

Lorenzo Lucca then fired a glorious opportunity over after being found by Nikola Milenkovic's knockdown, but Forest eventually made their dominance count in the 40th minute through Dominguez, who looped a brilliant header into the net. 

And Pereira's men turned the tie on its head seven minutes after the restart when Yates shifted the ball onto his weaker left foot before sending a sensational strike into the right corner and beyond the grasp of Olafsson. 

But for all their dominance, Martin Erlic's 69th-minute finish pegged Forest back, with the Midtjylland defender crashing a half-volley into the top-left corner from close range.

Both sides pushed for a winning goal as Ola Aina blazed over the net late on, with extra-time also failing to split the two sides, though Yates thought he had won it in the 118th minute, only to see his pinpoint header ruled out for offside. 

However, penalties would decide who would face Porto or Stuttgart, and Forest got off to the ideal start when Morgan Gibbs-White and Ibrahim Sangare found the back of the net, whilst Cho Gue-Sung and Aral Simsir both struck the woodwork. 

Neco Williams then confidently dispatched from 12 yards, and with all the pressure on him, Edward Chilufya slipped at the vital moment as his shot went over the crossbar and sent Forest through. 

Data Debrief: Wasteful Forest get the job done

Forest had more than enough chances to stop this game from going the distance, but in their first penalty shoot-out in Europe, they became the first ever English team to progress from/win a UEFA Cup/Europa League knockout stage tie having lost the first leg at home.

Pereira's men were denied by serving stops from the impressive Olafsson, but ended with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.03 from their 20 shots, eight of which were on target, compared to Midtjylland's 0.67 from their 12 attempts. 

A lot has been made of Forest's lack of attacking spark in the final third, but they have now scored 21 goals in 12 Europa League games this season (1.8 per game), compared to just 28 in 30 Premier League matches (0.9 per game).

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