Premier League high flyers Nottingham Forest survived a major scare to beat Exeter City on penalties and reach the last 16 of the FA Cup.

League One side Exeter, who went down to 10 men in the 87th minute after a red card for Ed Turns, held on to a 2-2 draw after extra time to force a shoot-out that Forest won 4-2 to become the last team through to the next stage of the competition.

Gary Caldwell’s side took a surprise lead over their Premier League opponents when Josh Magennis turned in on the rebound after Demetri Mitchell’s attempt was saved by Carlos Miguel in the fifth minute.

Ramon Sosa equalised for the visitors only 10 minutes later before Taiwo Awoniyi’s effort gave Forest the lead in the 37th minute.

However, the third division side were not willing to give up and restored parity five minutes into the second half.

Magennis was again on target, as his shot went in after taking a deflection off Willy Boly.

With extra time unable to separate the sides, penalties were required. But after misses from Reece Cole and Angus MacDonald for the hosts, Neco Williams converted to send Forest through.

Through to the @EmiratesFACup fifth round. pic.twitter.com/GMFktppfQm

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) February 11, 2025

Data Debrief: Forest huff and puff

With a hard-fought win, Forest reached the FA Cup fifth round in consecutive seasons for the first time since they did so during the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons.

Though his side exited after a valiant fight, Exeter’s Magennis is now the FA Cup’s top scorer this season with six goals.

He bagged a hat-trick against fifth-tier side Barnet in the first round, while he was also on target against Chesterfield in the second.