Nottingham Forest beat Cardiff City at the City Ground to progress to the fourth round of the FA Cup – with Gaetan Bong a surprise standout.
The Reds won thanks to an early Lyle Taylor strike, which came courtesy of a stunning assist from the ex-Brighton man.
Bong has only made three appearances for Forest since arriving during January 2020, with ex-boss Sabri Lamouchi not favouring him.
The 32-year-old won promotion to the Premier League with Brighton when they were managed by Chris Hughton.
With that in mind, the Forest incumbent has chosen to put Bong in his squad on several occasions this season.
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A debut to forget didn’t do the left-back’s chances of featuring more regularly any favours last season and he proved rarely-seen afterwards.
Hughton trusts him though and against Middlesbrough earlier in the season and on Saturday he performed well.
It seems unlikely that Bong will oust Yuri Ribeiro on a regular basis. Yesterday did highlight that Forest have a decent option in reserve, however.
Supporters were certainly impressed and they took to Twitter afterwards to remark on Bong’s surprise performance.
Here is a selection of Tweets from the Reds fan base as the experienced defender proves his worth to Forest.
Bong. First ball he puts in the box and it's more on the money than 99% of our crosses over the rest of the season.
— 🇬🇧 ☆ RED REBEL ☆ 🇬🇧 (@Reds_Revolution) January 9, 2021
Fantastic run by Bong that 👏👏👏
— Talking Reds Book (@talkingredsbook) January 9, 2021
Bong 🐐
— Tyler Murfet 🇬🇧 (@murfet_tyler) January 9, 2021
lovely ball from g.o.a.t-tan and a top notch finish by Taylor
— TheHobNobMan (@TheHobNobMan2) January 9, 2021
Well that’s encouraging!!!
— ⚡️ Craig Ⓥ X 😘 (@ZERP_589) January 9, 2021
We love the Bong!
— Jack Hodgins (@isitjack1) January 9, 2021