Nottingham Forest Progress via Penalties as Midtjylland Stumble in Europa League Tie

Ahead of a crucial relegation battle with Tottenham this weekend, Nottingham Forest manager Vítor Pereira opted for eight alterations in his lineup.

This suggested that reversing the 1-0 disadvantage from the first leg was not high on his agenda, yet the reshuffled team began with energy and served notice early when Dilane Bakwa struck just over from the edge of the box.

Bakwa featured prominently once more as the match's initial clear chance materialised, his corner inadvertently redirected towards goal by Pedro Bravo, though Elias Olafsson managed to clear it off the line.

Forest dominated much of the opening period, with their French forward central to the away team's promising moments.

He nearly scored again shortly before half-time following slick passing with Lorenzo Lucca near the penalty area, culminating in Bakwa's shot sailing just above the crossbar, whereas the Italian fluffed a chance by blasting over after a header from Nikola Milenkovic.

The away side's dominance paid off soon after with a long cross preserved by Milenkovic, allowing Nicolas Dominguez to leap and powerfully head the ball into the distant corner past Olafsson's futile stretch, levelling the overall score.

Forest maintained their momentum post-interval and took the lead in the tie for the first time inside ten minutes of the second half.

Ryan Yates may not be known for his finishing, but his left-footed strike from 25 yards that buried itself in the net resembled the work of a seasoned scorer.

Midtjylland coach Mike Tullberg was furious along the touchline as his team fell apart, though his frustration eased somewhat with 20 minutes remaining when a bouncing ball in the box fell kindly for Martin Erlic, whose volley arrowed into the top left corner.

The teams exchanged threats in the closing stages to force a result within the 90 minutes, as Cho Gue-sung threatened for the home side while Elliot Anderson drew a sharp stop from Olafsson, yet both failed to avoid additional time.

Lucca netted almost immediately after the extra period began, set up by Ola Aina, but the effort was ruled out for offside, and in one of the final actions, Yates saw a header that appeared to seal victory disallowed for the same reason seconds later.

After a total of 210 minutes over two matches, the contest remained deadlocked, leading to a penalty showdown.

Even with home support behind them, Midtjylland faltered by missing their opening two spot-kicks via Cho and Aral Simsir, unable to bounce back, as Edward Chilufya's third attempt slipped away after a mishap, while Forest's perfect record on their three penalties propelled the Tricky Trees to their first European quarter-final in three decades.