Roy Keane explains why Nottingham Forest defeated Exeter on penalties in the FA Cup

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Nottingham Forest defeated Exeter City on penalties to prevail in the FA Cup and reach the fifth round where Ipswich Town are waiting for the Reds.

This was far from a straightforward night for Forest. The Reds fell behind early on after Josh Magennis scored following a Carlos Miguel mistake but Ramon Sosa and Taiwo Awoniyi scored to give the Reds a half-time lead.

Early in the second half, some defensive set-piece frailties reared their head again for Forest. A corner wasn’t dealt with properly and the ball was diverted into the net by Willy Boly after a shot from the impressive Magennis.

The game was marred by a long stoppage following an injury to Taiwo Awoniyi. Thankfully, the player has only suffered a broken nose and that shouldn’t keep him out of action for too long as Forest switch attention to the Premier League again this weekend.

Forest couldn’t find a way through and after 120 minutes of action, the Reds were forced to take part in a penalty shootout. The spot-kicks were strong and with Matz Sels saving from Reece Cole and Angus MacDonald smashing his effort against the bar, Forest were given a helping hand.

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Roy Keane explains why Forest beat Exeter on penalties

There is often talk of penalties being a lottery but Keane isn’t keen on that notion. There is much more to the art of a spot kick and ultimately, Forest dealt with the situation better as a Premier League outfit.

Keane was covering the game – alongside Mark Pougatch and Ian Wright – for ITV Sport. He thinks there is more to penalties than just being a lottery and explains the moment he knew Forest would win.

He said: “We talk about it being a lottery and about hitting the target but it’s that technique. Look at Chris Wood, when he hits it, it stays hit, it’s powerful. Exeter for the last 10 minutes or so they’re on the back foot, they were exhausted, you can see when they walked up, they didn’t have that spring in their step like Forest did when they were walking up. It makes a huge difference.”

Forest recent record in penalty shootouts

It’s fair to say that in recent times, Forest have been a dab hand when it comes to penalty shootouts with only a single blemish coming in the last 11 shootouts.

The Reds seem to have started to hit the jackpot from 12 yards and although it’s not good for the hearts of the fans, it would seem that Forest are well prepped.

Naturally, the most obvious recent win on penalties came in the second leg of the play-off semi-final against Sheffield United which set up the famous Wembley final against Huddersfield.

Last night’s won’t live long in the memory but at least Forest did manage to spare their blushes by edging through on penalties and remaining in the competition.