Matt Turner came good for Nottingham Forest as he was the hero in an FA Cup fourth-round replay penalty shoot-out win against Bristol City which set up a mouth-watering tie with Manchester United.
Turner has made several high-profile mistakes in recent weeks which saw boss Nuno Espirito Santo sign a new goalkeeper in the January transfer window.
But the United States international kept Bristol City at bay throughout 120 minutes and then saved Sam Bell’s spot-kick as Forest won the shoot-out 5-3 after the tie had ended 1-1.
Divock Origi’s first goal for Forest since his summer move from AC Milan had given them an early lead but the spirited Championship side troubled their Premier League hosts throughout and levelled through Jason Knight.
They could have won the tie in both normal time and extra time had it not been for Turner, who pulled off a string of saves throughout the night.
Forest’s reward is a fifth-round match against Manchester United at the City Ground in three weeks, though they will have to improve immeasurably considering they have laboured past League One Blackpool in the third round and now the second-tier Robins.
Forest, who made eight changes from the side that drew at Bournemouth in the league on Sunday, had designs on an easy night when they took an eighth-minute lead.
Morgan Gibbs-White forced Max O’Leary into a stunning one-handed save down to his right, but from the resulting corner Origi glanced home to break his Forest duck.
However, it quickly became apparent that a long night was in store as the Robins levelled six minutes later.
Turner tipped Andy King’s shot from distance on to one post, the ball rolled across the line and hit the other post, where Haydon Roberts collected it and teed up
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