Premier League Nottingham Forest face a replay against League One Blackpool after coming from behind to avoid defeat in the FA Cup third round.
Forest academy graduate Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel gave Blackpool an unlikely lead at the City Ground with a powerful diving header before Albie Morgan doubled their advantage just two minutes later.
Nicolas Dominguez reduced the deficit before the break as he headed home a Gonzalo Montiel cross.
The hosts pressed for an equaliser after the restart and Morgan Gibbs-White thundered an excellent finish into the top corner from the edge of the box to restore parity.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side ramped up the pressure in the final third but could not find a winning goal.
Ryan Yates came closest to finding a breakthrough but his header was saved at close range by Daniel Grimshaw, while Chris Wood could not meet a late a Callum Hudson-Odoi cut-back at the far post.
Blackpool, who are eighth in the third tier, struggled to make an impression in the second half. They had just three shots to Forest’s 17 across the game and only had 28.6% of the possession.
The draw for the fourth round takes place on Monday.
Forest made to work to avoid upset
Forest are 15th in the Premier League and came into the game off the back of successive victories over Manchester United and Newcastle United, but they were given a scare by the team from two divisions below them.
Blackpool took advantage of Forest errors at the back to establish their two-goal lead. Lawrence-Gabriel’s opener was excellently taken, his header beating Odysseas Vlachodimos after Montiel failed to properly clear.For Blackpool’s second, Morgan was left completely unmarked as he met CJ Hamilton’s low cross and drilled his finish in off the post.
Having fallen 2-0 down, Wood missed a chance to pull a goal back when he fired over the crossbar and then sliced wide of the far post when he was one-on-one with Blackpool keeper Grimshaw.
Gibbs-White, who scored the winning goal in Forest’s 2-1 Premier League victory against Manchester United, was their most creative presence in the final third and constantly looked to make incisive passes.
Having fought back to 2-2 through the goals by Dominguez and Gibbs-White, Forest were unable to find a winner and will have to travel to Bloomfield Road for the replay.
Line-ups
Nottm Forest
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 23Vlachodimos
- 29Montiel
- 4Worrall
- 40Santiago Costa dos Santos
- 15ToffoloSubstituted forTavaresat 45′minutesBooked at 72mins
- 22YatesSubstituted forN Williamsat 81′minutes
- 28Danilo
- 14Hudson-Odoi
- 10Gibbs-White
- 16DomÃnguez
- 11Wood
Substitutes
- 1Turner
- 3Tavares
- 5Mangala
- 7N Williams
- 26McKenna
- 32Omobamidele
- 41Aguilera
- 49Osong
- 53Gardner
Blackpool
Formation 3-4-3
- 32GrimshawBooked at 90mins
- 2ConnollyBooked at 78mins
- 20CaseyBooked at 45mins
- 3HusbandBooked at 35mins
- 4Lawrence-Gabriel
- 6NorburnSubstituted forVirtueat 86′minutes
- 8MorganBooked at 71mins
- 24Lyons
- 11DembéléSubstituted forCareyat 67′minutes
- 16RhodesSubstituted forJosephat 67′minutes
- 22HamiltonSubstituted forDaleat 89′minutes
Substitutes
- 1O’Donnell
- 7Dale
- 9Joseph
- 10Carey
- 12Dougall
- 17Virtue
- 21Ekpiteta
- 23Thompson
- 30Oakley-Boothe
- Referee:
- Sunny Sukhvir Gill
- Attendance:
- 27,909
Live Text
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Match ends, Nottingham Forest 2, Blackpool 2.
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Second Half ends, Nottingham Forest 2, Blackpool 2.
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Daniel Grimshaw (Blackpool) is shown the yellow card.
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Attempt missed. Callum Hudson-Odoi (Nottingham Forest) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Morgan Gibbs-White.
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Substitution, Blackpool. Owen Dale replaces CJ Hamilton.
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Attempt saved. Callum Hudson-Odoi (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Nicolás DomÃnguez.
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Substitution, Blackpool. Matty Virtue replaces Oliver Norburn.
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Hand ball by Sonny Carey (Blackpool).
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Corner, Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel.
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Attempt blocked. Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Callum Hudson-Odoi.
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Corner, Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Oliver Casey.
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Substitution, Nottingham Forest. Neco Williams replaces Ryan Yates.
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Attempt missed. Nuno Tavares (Nottingham Forest) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is just a bit too high. Assisted by Callum Hudson-Odoi.
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Callum Connolly (Blackpool) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Callum Hudson-Odoi (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Foul by Callum Connolly (Blackpool).
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Nuno Tavares (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Callum Connolly (Blackpool).
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Foul by Danilo (Nottingham Forest).
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Kyle Joseph (Blackpool) wins a free kick on the right wing.