As was the case for most of the season, Mads Cels proved himself to be one of the best goalkeepers in the country, saving Jack Taylor's penalty in the shootout to send Nottingham Forest to the FA Cup quarterfinals.
George Hurst and Ryan Yates traded goals late in normal time, but no one could raise a winner before the shootout. The spot kick was exceptional until Taylor couldn't find the horn and the Belgian got behind it.
The two head coaches face a difficult balance, with Forest enjoying a ruthless battle with Champions League spots, with Ipswich discarding them on the other side for survival, putting the Cup quarter-final spot in danger. The result was 14 changes between the two teams from the latest outing, with New England head coach Thomas Touchel rarely focusing on the two starting lineups in the stands.
Given that Forest can make fewer personnel changes and boast excellent quality players, it was no surprise that they dominated the early stages. Anthony Elanga's pace was causing problems, but despite having a large portion of the ball, Ibrahim Sangare flashed the header and tested the response of the supporters behind the goal as Alex Moreno rose to the drive.
Unlike Pep Guardiola, meaningful opportunities are hard to come, so no one could blame the target for lack of shots.
Neither side offered much urgency to secure a trip to the south coast as Brighton was waiting for the winner in the final eight. Forests are rarely at their best when ownership is granted. I liked to prefer the counter and struggled to reach the optimum tempo. Ipswich was chastised with their play, but something was missing in the cutting edge, making the first half poor.
Kieran McKenna brought in two centre-backs at the break to change the dynamics in a clear way. Cameron Burgess, one of the late players, appeared to have picked up a knock, but Axel Tuanzebe's exit could have been more tactical.
Finally, in the 50th minute, Palmer sent the goalkeeper right with Elanga choked the shot from the edge of the box. The save was comfortable, but at least it provided a moment when the fans were dropped out of their seats after a long period of dormant and creating noise.
Ipswich is attacking the end, where fans currently live, but did it the same way. Sam Morsey collected a 35-yard ball from goal, tweaked it from his foot, then rocked the shot towards the top corner. Unfortunately for the goalkeeper, no one picked up Hurst from the resulting corner.
Mori stirs his life by going backwards and 15 minutes later Elanga reached level when Captain Yates shattered the cross to get home. The host gave them confidence to search for winners as well as equalizers.
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Morgan Gibbs White, Elliot Anderson and Chris Wood came out of the bench before Yates' goal, and they revitalized the loose forest. It seemed only one team could win as Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi ran wild on the wings.
Forest thought they had when Yates flicked the house to another house, but the offside flag would rise quickly. The Video Assistant referee was of course a glance, but the decision was correct.
The additional period consisted of a series of long throws, praying that the ball would reach the right place. That wasn't the case. Hudson Odoy fired a big shot with one of his conventional curling shots after cutting from the left as the match slowly checked towards the penalty.
Spot kicks were taken to the front of the home fans, who cheered on a long walk into the area for the Mori players and jeered those in blue. After successfully completing nine penalties, Taylor saw his efforts being saved low to his left.
