- Forest earn point in stoppage time against Sheffield United
- Ryan Yates header earns Reds deserved late point
Head Coach Steve Cooper made one change from the side which beat Bristol City 2-0 last time out, with Ryan Yates replacing Max Lowe who was ineligible to face his parent club.
Yates partnered James Garner as Jack Colback moved across to occupy the vacant left-sided wing-back role.
The Reds created their first chance inside the opening minute after winning possession high up the field. The move ended in Brennan Johnson cutting the ball onto his left foot and his shot was palmed behind for a corner by Wes Foderingham.
From the resulting corner delivered by James Garner, Keinan Davis glanced a header across goal and narrowly wide of the far post.
In the sixth minute, Oliver Norwood’s free-kick had to be punched away by Ethan Horvath in the American’s first involvement of the evening.
After 16 minutes, The Blades broke from a Reds attack as Morgan Gibbs-White threaded the ball through to Sander Berge and the Norwegian midfielder saw a powerful effort parried by Horvath. Femi Seriki latched onto it and fizzed an effort across goal which evaded everyone inside the area.
Two minutes later, Brennan Johnson showed excellent footwork to weave his way around Ben Davies on the left-hand side, but was unable to cut the ball back across goal by the byline.
A poor pass out from the back by Davies was then pounced on by The Reds as Davis slipped in Zinckernagel inside the area, but Foderingham was out well to deny the Dane.
Moments later, Garner clipped a cross in towards the back post which was poked behind by Ben Davies for a corner with Davis lurking. The front man’s shirt was seemingly being held but referee Josh Smith was unmoved.
Shortly before the half hour, neat play out from the back from Horvath and then Worrall released Johnson who threaded the ball through to Davis, but the Aston Villa loanee could only fire wide of the target.
In the 32nd minute, The Reds won a penalty. Worrall found Spence out on the right and he rolled Jack Robinson before charging into the area and going down under challenge from Rhys Norrington-Davies and referee Smith pointed to the spot. Former Forest man Jack Robinson was then booked for kicking the ball away.
Brennan Johnson stepped up and shot straight down the middle, with Foderingham denying the Wales international from 12 yards.
Down the other end, Gibbs-White looked to generate momentum for the hosts as he shot from distance but the ball deflected through to Horvath who claimed with ease.
In the 40th minute, Keinan Davis won the ball inside his own half and charged forward before playing in Zinckernagel who saw an effort blocked from the edge of the area.
Davis then profited on a loose ball and broke into the area but lost his footing as he looked to get an effort away amid pressure from John Egan.
James Garner was the Forest man booked for kicking the ball away in the 43rd minute and after two minutes were added on at the end of the first half, the whistle blew for half-time with The Reds unfortunate to be only on level terms.
HALF-TIME: Sheffield United 0-0 Forest
The second half began with no changes for either side, as Forest attacked the away end housing over 2,600 Reds supporters.
Davis motored away from Seriki and Davies down the left two minutes into the second half and won a corner. Garner’s delivery was well held by Foderingham.
Ben Davies was shown a yellow card in the 51st minute for pulling back Davis on the touchline.
Davis showed excellent footwork to spin 25 yards from goal and the striker received the ball inside the area before seeing a shot deflect behind for a corner which was cleared.
In the 58th minute, The Reds hit the crossbar. Garner’s corner was met by Steve Cook who rattled a header off the woodwork.
Then, from a United counter-attack led by John Fleck, Zinckernagel showed excellent work-rate to chase back and win the ball before the Scotland international could get a shot away.
On 62 minutes, Cook produced an excellent last-ditch block to deny Gibbs-White after Berge poked the ball through to the Wolves loanee inside the box.
With The Reds well in control, United made a double change in the 67th minute as Norwood and Seriki were replaced by Daniel Jebbison and former Red Ben Osborn.
Two minutes later, it was the hosts who took the lead. Gibbs-White clipped a cross into the area and Billy Sharp headed back across goal and into the bottom corner.
Looking to ignite a response, Zinckernagel exchanged a quick one-two with Davis before breaking into the penalty area and hitting the side-netting.
Sharp’s header was kept out by Horvath from a Norwood corner, and the American was on-hand to deny Davies from close-range after the defender spun and fired goalwards from six yards.
With 10 minutes remaining, Sam Surridge replaced Scott McKenna as Forest switched to a back four and looked to add more impetus in attack.
In the 83rd minute, Sharp was replaced by Oli McBurnie and then Alex Mighten was introduced for Zinckernagel for The Reds.
With three minutes remaining, Spence got beyond Rhys Norrington-Davies and was brought down on the edge of the area, with the latter booked by Smith. Colback's troubling delivery went behind for a corner via a Blades deflection.
Colback was then replaced by Joe Lolley in The Reds' final change with two minutes remaining. United broke forward two-on-one from a corner with Jebbison but his attempted pass to Gibbs-White was way overhit.
Five minutes were added on at the end of the second half before Gibbs-White weaved his way around the edge of the area before threading in Jebbison who saw a shot saved by Horvath.
McBurnie was booked for time-wasting in the dying embers and The Reds then won a corner down the other end.
From Garner's resulting delivery, Ryan Yates glanced a header across goal at the near post and the ball nestled into the bottom corner for a dramatic late equaliser in front of a delighted away end.
The full-time whistle blew shortly after, with The Reds claiming a deserved late point in South Yorkshire.
FULL-TIME: Sheffield United 1-1 Forest
MATCH STATISTICS
Sheffield United (3-4-2-1): Wes Foderingham; Ben Davies, Jack Robinson, John Egan; Femi Seriki (Ben Osborn, 67’), Oliver Norwood (Daniel Jebbison 67’), Morgan Gibbs-White, Rhys Norrington-Davies; Sander Berge, John Fleck; Billy Sharp (c) (Oliver McBurnie 83’)
Substitutes not used: Adam Davies, Conor Hourihane, Iliman Ndiaye, Kyron Gordon
Goal: Sharp (69’)
Bookings: Robinson (32’), Davies (51’), Norrington-Davies (87’), McBurnie (90')
Nottingham Forest (3-4-1-2): Ethan Horvath; Joe Worrall (c), Steve Cook, Scott McKenna (Sam Surridge 79’); Djed Spence, Ryan Yates, James Garner, Jack Colback (Joe Lolley 89’); Philip Zinckernagel (Alex Mighten 84’); Brennan Johnson, Keinan Davis
Substitutes not used: Jordan Smith, Tobias Figueiredo, Cafu
Goal: Yates (90')
Booking: Garner (43’)
Referee: Josh Smith
Attendance: 28,841
Possession: 49%-51%
Shots: 9-13
On target: 6-4
Corners: 6-12