Brice Samba was the hero, as he saved three penalties in a penalty shootout to give Nottingham Forest their first Wembley appearance since 1992.
Sheffield United may have joined Liverpool as one of two teams to beat Steve Cooper’s side at the City Ground in 2022 but, ultimately, Forest’s remarkable rise from the foot of the Championship to the cusp of the Premier League still continues.
Samba, the mercurial French goalkeeper, saved Oliver Norwood, Conor Hourihane and Morgan Gibbs-White to prolong United’s playoff defeat, in which he has already missed nine attempts.
John Fleck leveled the scores on aggregate in the 75th minute of a tumultuous Championship play-off semi-final as Paul Heckingbottom’s side battled back from 3-1 on aggregate to see Forest through to extra time.
Fleck, a key member of the team that went from League One to the Premier League under Chris Wilder, converted George Baldock’s cross from the right flank to turn this tie around.
Fighting for the right to face Huddersfield Town at Wembley on May 29, Forest led the night through Brennan Johnson’s goal only for Gibbs-White to equalize shortly after half-time when United refused to give up their bid to come back. to the elite. .
But Forest kept his nerve in the shootout as most of the other 29,000 spectators packed the field to celebrate in a red haze.
The atmosphere at kick-off was red-hot, but that only intensified when United squandered an opportunity to equalize on aggregate before conceding Johnson’s 19th goal of the season.
There was a searing humidity around the City Ground as Forest fans walking on the River Trent dared to dream of a first trip to the new Wembley, perhaps even a first Premier League appearance of this century.
Egan had already sped up to head in Jack Robinson’s long shot when Gibbs-White ran down the left inside channel. In a bold move, United’s player of the year arched the ball perfectly into Iliman Ndiaye’s path: close enough to the goalkeeper to tempt Brice Samba, but deflecting towards the Frenchman, now reborn as a goalscoring target with four goals in six. matches.
As the City Ground held its collective breath, Ndiaye fired low and hard, but Samba saved magnificently to his left. It felt like a big moment, the kind where games and seasons and livelihoods revolve. Although it was a good save, United should have been ahead.
How Forest made them pay. Sam Surridge looked up as he raced down the left and crossed, good and early, for Johnson to stretch out and dunk the ball into the top corner.
People couldn’t hear their neighbor talking as the noise level rose to 11 and Surridge had a shot blocked, Ryan Yates curled another wide. The forest was on fire but tempers were on fire. When Paul Heckingbottom shoved the ball into Djed Spence’s stomach as the Forest full-back went to claim for a throw-in, there was an angry gathering of all but three players, with both benches involved.
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When Michael Oliver took it in stride and showed Heckingbottom a yellow card, the City Ground responded by telling the United manager that he is “just a fucking Neil Warnock”. That would have made the former Notts County manager laugh.
Steve Cooper kept his players on the pitch for a minute to let the visitors make their own way down the tunnel. He was as passionate as he was frantic, but the advantage was with Forest.
Not that United had any intention of going to bed. In two minutes they were level with the night, their ferocity undimmed by the interval. Joe Worrall produced a perfectly timed tackle to deny Ndiaye as he threatened to come in behind for a clean shot on goal, but the ball broke for Sander Berge.
It was the Norwegian’s stoppage-time goal on Saturday that limited the damage and now he stepped to the baseline to deflect the cross that Gibbs-White deftly converted into his 12th goal of an impressive season.
Reference-www.theguardian.com