- Forest knock holders Leicester out of the Emirates FA Cup
- Zinckernagel, Johnson, Worrall and Spence goals send Reds through to round five
Head Coach Steve Cooper made two changes from the league defeat to Cardiff for the fourth round Emirates FA Cup tie against Leicester City.
Joe Worrall made an earlier than expected return from his rib injury against Millwall three weeks ago to line up in a 3-4-3 formation alongside Scott McKenna and Steve Cook at the back, with the latter man shaking off the knock he collected in South Wales last week.
Worrall took the armband as Lewis Grabban missed out through his ankle injury and Jack Colback dropped to the bench.
Brendan Rodgers' Leicester side were visiting Trentside for the first time in eight years and it was a full house on Trentside on a cold and blustery afternoon.
Brennan Johnson’s right wing cross in the fourth minute nearly found Keinan Davis and, as the ball broke to the edge of the box, Ryan Yates was fouled by James Maddison. Johnson’s 20-yard free kick was blocked by the wall and Philip Zinckernagel couldn’t quite collect the rebound.
Leicester broke and Kelechi Iheanacho had The Foxes' first attempt of the match but shot wide of Brice Samba’s goal.
Leicester then forced the first corner of the match when Worrall headed James Justin’s cross to safety on the six yard box and The Reds cleared the corner.
After ten minutes, Leicester had another corner from which Ademola Lookman’s shot was blocked by James Garner.
Worrall then made a crucial header ahead of Harvey Barnes before Lookman just failed to connect with Barnes’ dangerous low cross as the Premier League outfit threatened.
Youri Tielemans was fouled on the right by Zinckernagel and Samba punched away Maddison’s free kick.
Forest responded on 20 minutes with a Garner free-kick on the right which was headed back across goal by Scott McKenna and eventually the ball fell for Davis who superbly chested the ball and shot on the volley against the crossbar.
However, midway through the first half it was The Reds who took the lead. Johnson’s cross from the right was headed back across goal by Davis and Zinckernagel was on hand in the six yard box to steer home.
And less than a minute later, Forest doubled their lead. Brennan Johnson intercepted Daniel Amartey's short back pass and cleverly slid the ball under Danny Ward to the delight of the home crowd.
On the half hour, Johnson shot across goal and saw a low effort palmed around the post by Ward. More good attacking play in the Leicester final third forced a Reds corner shortly after and from Garner’s flag kick, Ryan Yates just failed to connect with a header six yards out.
The Reds forced another corner and from another excellent Garner delivery, Joe Worrall powered home a header to put The Reds 3-0 up. Forest had scored three goals in nine minutes and the The City Ground faithful were absolutely ecstatic.
Davis was causing The Foxes back-line problems and he forced another corner as Forest continued to keep Leicester pinned in the final third.
Five minutes before the break, another fantastic Forest move ended with Davis releasing Spence inside the area but his shot was saved by Ward’s feet.
Leicester immediately broke with Maddison releasing Iheanacho. Samba came outside the box to try and avert the danger but the Nigerian flicked the ball around the goalkeeper and slid the ball home from an acute angle to put Leicester back in the game.
It had been an exhilarating first half and The Reds were well worthy of their two goal advantage against the reigning cup holders.
HALF-TIME: Nottingham Forest 3-1 Leicester City
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers made a switch at half-time with Patson Daka replacing Harvey Barnes as The Foxes changed formation.
The Reds forced the first corner of the second half when Philip Zinckernagel broke from deep and fed Brennan Johnson whose shot was deflected wide. The Foxes again struggled to clear the flag kick and Ryan Yates was hurt trying to deflect the ball home under the nose of Danny Ward from Scott McKenna’s header.
Leicester forced their own corner shortly afterwards and Zinckernagel then fouled Çaglar Söyüncü to give the visitors a free kick in a dangerous position but James Maddison wasted the kick.
Maddison then came close as Leicester broke at pace and slid his shot from the edge of the box just past Brice Samba’s right hand post. Substitute Daka then shot over the bar after being teed up by Kelechi Iheanacho.
Just before the hour, Wilfred Ndidi became the first player booked by referee Paul Tierney for fouling Zinckernagel as he broke in midfield.
Moments later, Forest broke again and this time Zinckernagel squared for Johnson but his shot was well saved by Danny Ward.
However, Forest added a fourth in the 63rd minute after another incisive break. This time, Zinckernagel fed Spence who drew Ward and slipped the ball into the far corner.
The Dane was then replaced by Jack Colback to a rousing reception from the crowd after his goal and assist.
Brendan Rodgers made a double change with Ricardo Pereira and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall replacing Youri Tielemans and Ademola Lookman.
James Garner was booked for a foul on James Maddison to become the first Forest man in the book.
The Manchester United loanee then played in Max Lowe on the left and his cross-shot went just past Danny Ward’s post as Forest looked for a fifth goal.
New signing Sam Surridge then came on for his Forest debut replacing Keinan Davis who had been a threat all afternoon to the Leicester defence.
With 20 minutes left, Daka shot over as The Foxes looked for a way back into the match. Referee Tierney then booked James Justin for a foul on Brennan Johnson.
With seven minutes left, Samba was forced into his first save of the match from a volley from Daniel Amartey.
James Garner confidently struck a shot wide from 20 yards as the match moved into the last minutes and then Cafu and Xande Silva replaced Garner and Johnson as The Reds looked to manage out the match to secure a home fifth round tie against Huddersfield Town.
Three minutes were added on as Pereira drove a shot wide of the post, before the full-time whistle blew to mark the end of a fine evening for Steve Cooper's side.
FULL-TIME: Nottingham Forest 4-1 Leicester City
MATCH STATISTICS
Nottingham Forest (3-4-1-2): Brice Samba; Joe Worrall, Steve Cook, Scott McKenna; Djed Spence, James Garner (Cafu 88'), Ryan Yates, Max Lowe; Philip Zinckernagel (Jack Colback 61'); Brennan Johnson (Xande Silva 88'), Keinan Davis (Sam Surridge 71')
Substitutes not used: Ethan Horvath, Tobias Figueiredo, Richie Laryea, Braian Ojeda, Joe Lolley
Goals: Philip Zinckernagel 23’, Brennan Johnson 24’, Joe Worrall 32’, Djed Spence 61'
Bookings: James Garner 65'
Leicester (4-2-3-1): Danny Ward; James Justin, Daniel Amartey, Çaglar Söyüncü, Luke Thomas; Wilfred Ndidi, Youri Tielemans (Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall 64'); Ademola Lookman (Ricardo Pereira 64'), James Maddison, Harvey Barnes (Patson Daka 46'); Kelechi Iheanacho
Substitutes not used: Kasper Schmeichel, Marc Albrighton, Ayoze Pérez, Hamza Choudhury, Jannik Vestergaard, Boubakary Soumaré
Goals: Kelechi Iheanacho 40’
Bookings: Wilfred Ndidi 59', James Justin 74'
Referee: Paul Tierney
Attendance: 28,762 including 4,056 Leicester supporters
Possession: 37%-63%
Shots: 12-10
Shots on target: 7-2
Corners: 4-8