N Forest 1 – 1 Wolves

Dean Henderson was the hero as Nottingham Forest progressed to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup after a 4-3 penalty shootout win over Wolves.

The on-loan Manchester United goalkeeper first saved a Ruben Neves penalty, before making another strong save to keep out Joe Hodge’s spot-kick and send Steve Cooper’s Reds through to the last four, where they will face Manchester United.

Raul Jimenez came to the visitors’ rescue with a simple tap-in in normal time (64) after former Wolves defender Willy Boly – who spent five seasons at Molineux – bundled in a corner from close range (18), but it was equal. unable to find the often threatened equalizer.

The win saw Forest reach the semi-finals for the first time since finishing runners-up to United in 1991/92.

How Steve Cooper’s Reds booked their semi-final place

The fact of reaching the semi-finals of this competition is alien to both teams who both seem to not want to move the big guns from the dead. Wolves last progressed from the quarter-finals when they won in 1979/80 and equaled Forest, who reached the final in 1992.

The visitors were allowed to dominate the ball for long periods, with Forest safe in the knowledge that, most opponents could not use their dominance to threaten.

But that meant Forest had to counter-attack quickly and sharply – and when there was a corner, they had to take the lead. Serge Aurier flicked an in-swinging delivery in at the near post, Jonny accidentally tipped it over the bar and Boly was on hand to apply the finishing touch. Unexpected, no celebration.

However, Wolves grew into the game, and might have been level at the break had it not been for Henderson, who first beat Jimenez’s curling shot, before a powerful one-handed save denied Hee-Chan Hwang.

Julen Lopetegui’s side picked up where they left off after the restart and went close again when a misdirected header from Neves teed up Brennan Johnson to force Jose Sa to dive fully to his left to save.

It was finally rewarded with 64 minutes played. Matheus Nunes and Matheus Cunha combined well, with the latter putting the ball on a plate for Jimenez to roll in the long-awaited equalizer and his third in three games in the competition.

It was almost canceled in a few minutes, however, when time seemed to stop as Jack Colback’s pass took a nick off Nelson Semedo’s knee and returned from the post before the ball was quickly hooked clear.

When Wolves pressed to win, Forest held firm and, in the end, forced take-out, which started in dramatic fashion, with Sam Surridge and Neves respectively by Jose Sa and Henderson.

Each of the next seven scored, leaving Joe Hodge 20-year-old with the pressure to keep Wolves in the tie and force sudden death. But it was not to be, when Henderson, who was impressive throughout the night, saved to send Forest through.

Man of the match – Dean Henderson

Cooper: Henderson’s ineligibility to face Man Utd has put a dampener on tonight

Speaking after the match, Nottingham Forest’s Steve Cooper praised the team’s progress as a step in the right direction, but was quickly brought back down to Earth when he warned goalkeeper Dean Henderson would be ineligible to face parent club Manchester United at the club. semi finals.

“It’s great to get to the semi-finals for the first time in 31 years, so I’m really happy that the players have made it this far and given us the opportunity to play against Manchester United,” he said.

“I’m really happy with the supporters – it gives the older generation a chance to reminisce and it gives the younger generation a chance to break into new territory and that’s always important to me.

“This is just another positive message for the progress that the club is trying to make. We know that we have come a long way and, as soon as we leave here, all the focus is to return to the Premier League, but the goal is to pass and we did it. I don’t love us, if I’m honest, I don’t love our performance, but I shouldn’t be too negative on a night like tonight.

“You know what, I just thought about it [Henderson being ineligible]. Dean was great in the penalty shootout, but he was even better in the game. Unfortunate.

“He is very invested in the group, how it works, what we try to accelerate in terms of what we want. To do this, you need a very good goalkeeper. , to be honest.”

Lopetegui: We have to have a penalty – Maybe I don’t know the rules of football

Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui expressed his frustration that his side were not awarded a late penalty at the City Ground.

Matheus Nunes went down under pressure from Emmanuel Dennis in the Nottingham Forest penalty area, with his boot coming off his foot due to apparent contact.

He said: “The reaction is negative because we want to continue in this competition. I think we have fought a lot to get here and then it will be a very difficult game for both teams.

“We started by conceding one goal after a corner and after that, we had two very clear chances in the first half that we didn’t score. In the second half, we scored one goal and had more chances. Unfortunately, the penalty shootout. That’s how we lost in the match and we have to accept it

“But I don’t want to forget one major action against us, which is a very clear penalty for Matheus Nunes. Maybe I don’t know anything about the rules of football; maybe I need to review all the rules of football.

“I don’t need to hear anything about this [from the referee]. The rules are no different in England than in Spain, France, Germany – they are the same.”

Another Carabao Cup quarter-final result

Manchester United 3-0 Charlton

Newcastle 2-0 Leicester

Southampton 2-0 Manchester City

What’s next?

Nottingham Forest return to Premier League action at 3pm on Saturday when they take on Leicester in City Land. Steve Cooper’s side then traveled to Bournemouth at the same time on January 21.

Next to wolf it’s a home match against West Ham in the Premier League at 3pm on Saturday before they welcome Liverpool to Molineux at 7.45pm next Tuesday for the FA Cup third round replay.