(Football news) In their fifth-round match, the Tricky Trees were eliminated from the cup after losing 1-0 to Manchester United, while the young Reds celebrated another knockout victory after defeating Southampton 3-0.
After riding their luck to advance to the FA Cup last sixteen, where they would face their toughest test to date against Manchester United, Nottingham Forest needed extra time to overcome Blackpool in a replay in the third round before destroying Bristol City in their rematch in the fourth round.
It was not for the want of trying for Nuno Espirito Santo’s outfit, who tested Andre Onana on several occasions at the City Ground on Wednesday night, but the Cameroonian shot-stopper cut an impenetrable figure in between the sticks, unlike Matt Turner as Casemiro’s deft header from a Bruno Fernandes free kick punched the Red Devils’ ticket to the quarters.
With their dreams of a Wembley appearance crashing and burning in midweek, the Tricky Trees can at least focus purely on the Premier League relegation scrap, having seen their chances of survival suffer a damaging blow in a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa on February 27.
Owing to Everton’s points deduction being reduced from 10 to six, Santo’s side have now been bumped down to 17th in the table – just four points clear of Luton Town having played a game more than the Hatters – and just one of their last six Premier League games has ended in victory.
However, breaching the Villa Park nets twice means that Forest have struck multiple goals in each of their last three Premier League fixtures, and they have scored in all of their top-flight games under Santo so far, albeit while also recording just one clean sheet in that run.
The youngsters are more than capable of handling Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool, whose academy graduates shone in the last moments of their EFL Cup victory over Chelsea before taking center stage at Anfield when Championship promotion contenders Southampton visited the city in the middle of the week.
Liverpool, who had to field a number of their academy protégés due to their double-figure absence list, naturally had to defend a bit against the Saints. However, Lewis Koumas’s deflected strike and Jayden Danns’ incredible double in front of the Kop sent the Reds to the quarterfinals, where they will face Man United, Forest’s conquerors.
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