Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal LIVE: FA Cup result, final score and reaction as Lewis Grabban fires late winner
Follow all the latest reaction after Arsenal crashed out of the FA Cup
Follow live reaction as Nottingham Forest knocked a woeful Arsenal side out of the FA Cup at the third round stage. Substitute Lewis Grabban scored a late winner for the hosts on 83 minutes after matching Mikel Arteta’s side at the City Ground, sliding in to finish a low cross from the right past Bernd Leno.
It was the least Forest deserved after an organised display under manager Steve Cooper. Arsenal created few chances despite fielding a strong side, with Eddie Nketiah heading the most presentable opportunity wide of goal, and were unable to respond to falling behind.
Forest will face holders Leicester in the fourth round while Arsenal’s chances of winning silverware this season comes down to the Carabao Cup, where they face Liverpool in the semi-finals this week.
Follow all the reaction from the match between Forest and Arsenal below.
Lewis Grabban’s late strike sees Nottingham Forest dump Arsenal out of FA Cup
Lewis Grabban’s late strike stunned Arsenal as Nottingham Forest dumped the Gunners out of the FA Cup.
The substitute sealed a 1-0 win for the Championship side to book an East Midlands derby with Leicester in the fourth round.
Arsenal, 14-time winners, produced a disjointed performance which got what it deserved, with Forest more than matching the visitors to continue their upward curve under Steve Cooper.
Lewis Grabban’s late strike sees Nottingham Forest dump Arsenal out of FA Cup
Reaction from Nottingham Forest manager
A delighted Steve Cooper spoke to ITV and gave his reaction to Forest’s victory over Arsenal saying:
I think so [we deserved it]. We came up against a really good team. We had a clear game plan. We wanted to be brave with our pressing and get at them on the counter and that’s how we scored.
“I’m really proud of the boys, pleased with the performance. It’s brilliant to get through and I hope the players now really believe in what we’re doing.”
On Lewis Grabban: “He’s club captain. He’s experienced and we work together in terms of how we manage him. Then we brought him on and he scored.”
On facing Leicester City in round four: “That will be one we look forward to. I don’t know when it is but we need to get ready for Millwall next week. We’re thinking about building a way that can serve us right now. It’s a big club this.”
Reaction from Lewis Grabban
Nottingham Forest’s club captain and matchwinner Lewis Grabban spoke to ITV after the game and spoke about his winning goal, Keinan Davis starting ahead of him and drawing Leicester in the next round. He said:
It was good. I think we did well throughout the game. I think we deserved that, we didn’t have many chances and when we did in the last moment we were able to put it away. I think we deserved it, it was tough, they had a lot of the ball. It’s always hard against Arsenal so we just tried our hardest.
“Keinan’s [Davis] come in, he hasn’t played a lot of minutes so he needs to get up a running and being one of the senior players I can do with a rest every now and again. Every time you step onto the point you have a point to prove so I tried to do what I needed to do and it went well today.
“We just found our space, it was an early ball into the box with their defenders running back towards goal. When the ball comes into the box you try and get on the end of it and that’s what we did.
“[Against Leciester in the next round] We have to be at our best again and hopefully we’ll get through the round.”
Nottingham Forest 1 - 0 Arsenal
Lewis Grabban has scored his first FA Cup goal since December 2011 for Rotherham against Shrewsbury, just over 10 years ago.
Nottingham Forest 1 - 0 Arsenal
Nottingham Forest have knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup in the third round for the second time in five years:
Full-time: Nottingham Forest 1 - 0 Arsenal
90+3 mins: Upset! The Championship’s Nottingham Forest have dumped Arsenal out of the FA Cup! Lewis Grabban is the man of the hour. His goal is the difference between the teams as Forest progress to the fourth round to set up a meeting with Leicester City. It’s a fully deserved win for Steve Cooper’s men!
Nottingham Forest 1 - 0 Arsenal
90 mins: Three minutes of added time to play. Saed Kolasinac has got on for Arsenal but time is running out for the Gunners. Nottingham Forest are controlling this match well.
Nottingham Forest 1 - 0 Arsenal
88 mins: Chance! Substitute Ribeiro Dias brings the ball over to the left wing as Grabban makes a run in front of Cedric Soares. He’s fed the ball and shifts to the right for a more central shot at goal. When he eventually does hit one it’s blocked in the box.
Nottingham Forest 1 - 0 Arsenal
85 mins: The home fans are in full voice now, it’s been a long time coming but finally the game has kicked into life. Nottingham Forest are just five minutes plus added time away from an FA Cup upset. Can they hold on?
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 1 - 0 Arsenal (Grabban, 83’)⚽️
83 mins: Forest have the lead! What a Johnson wins the ball in midfield and drives the home side forward on the counter-attack. He slots the ball out to Yates on the right wing as Grabban makes a run through the middle of the box. The cross from Yates comes it and picks out Grabban beautifully. He gets to the ball and pokes it past Leno to break the deadlock!
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