The fireworks were set off a night early at the City Ground as Nottingham Forest scored a 97th-minute goal to see off Coventry City.
In fairness, the Reds never looked like producing fireworks and were very fortunate to squeeze past the Sky Blues, who outplayed Forest in the second half.
Chris Hughton’s men looked good value for their 1-0 lead in the first half, with Scott McKenna firing a left-footed shot past Marko Marosi in the Sky Blues goal.
Whatever was said at half-time didn’t have the desired effect on Forest though and they toiled in the second half.
Coventry were bang on top and thoroughly deserved their equaliser which came through Callum O’Hare.
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Remarkably Forest got their rewards for some late pressure in the 97th minute. Lyle Taylor raced through on goal before being bundled over by Kyle McFadzean who was booked for his efforts.
The Forest striker dusted himself down and fired the Reds to victory with the last kick of the contest.
Following the performance we looked at he players’ performances and marked them out of 10.
Brice Samba – 7
Made two really good saves to keep Coventry at bay as they spent the majority of the second half on top.
Cyrus Christie – 6
There’s just something about Christie that doesn’t look quite comfortable yet. With more game time he will hopefully improve.
Tobias Figueiredo – 5
Capable of the sublime at the ridiculous. Made a crucial block in the first half but just didn’t look at home in the second.
Scott McKenna – 7
Scored his first goal for the club and that was just rewards for a very strong run of form in the Garibaldi.
Yuri Ribeiro – 7
A welcome return to the starting eleven. Ribeiro is still widely considered the best left-back at the club by supporters.
Jack Colback – 6
Took a whack in the first half and broke up play pretty well. Tired in the second half, allowing Coventry to break in midfield.
Samba Sow – 8
A very good return to the side for the Malian player. Tired in the second half but proved a real presence in the first, getting Forest moving in the right direction on plenty of occasions.
Anthony Knockaert – 6
A rare off night for the Frenchman who was perhaps guilty of trying too hard to get on the ball in areas where he wasn’t overly effective.
Joe Lolley – 7
Gets his rating for his part in the winning goal. He took advantage of some lapse defending to slide in Taylor who was duly fouled.
Luke Freeman – 5
A bad night at the office for the on-loan Sheffield United player. Just doesn’t quite look to have the composure with the ball at his feet just yet.
Lyle Taylor – 7
Ice cool from the penalty spot and you can’t knock his work rate off the ball. Was somewhat wasteful and rushed in possession, however.