- Forest seal return to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years
- Colwill own goal sends secures 1-0 win over Huddersfield Town at Wembley
Steve Cooper made one change to the side that beat Sheffield United on penalties in the semi-final, with Keinan Davis replacing Sam Surridge up front.
The first chance of the encounter fell to Forest just after the ten-minute mark, when James Garner’s dangerous free-kick delivery was headed just wide by an unmarked Ryan Yates inside the area.
The chances began to come thick and fast for the Reds, once again through Yates but the 24-year-old couldn’t keep his effort down after finding himself in space on the edge of the box.
Djed Spence intercepted a Huddersfield pass and drove forward but his cross was slightly too high to meet the head of Brennan Johnson.
The Terriers’ first shot of the game came through Wales international Sorba Thomas, who managed to blow by Joe Worrall on the left-wing but his shot on goal was parried away by Brice Samba between the sticks.
Forest’s pressure finally paid off just on the stroke of half-time, as Garner’s whipped delivery into the area was turned into the back of the net by Town defender Levi Colwill to give Cooper’s side a deserved lead.
HALF-TIME: Huddersfield Town 0-1 Nottingham Forest
The Reds wasted zero time in getting started during the second period, with chances for both Yates and Keinan Davis inside the first ten minutes going to waste.
Sorba Thomas was involved in the action once again for Huddersfield, sending in a dangerous corner to the Forest area which was headed just over by skipper Jonathan Hogg.
Brennan Johnson went close on the 70-minute mark, picking up the ball on the edge of the area in space but could only manage to drag his effort wide of the post.
Wembley held its breath for a moment as Harry Toffolo went down inside the area under pressure from Jack Colback and was shown a yellow card by Jon Moss for simulation – leading to a VAR check on the incident which confirmed the referee’s decision of no penalty.
As the final whistle approached, Huddersfield went close to an equaliser through Lewis O’Brien, but the midfielder’s effort curled wide of the post from inside the area.
After a tense final 15 minutes and six minutes of additional time, the referee blew the whistle to seal Forest's return to the Premier League!
FULL-TIME: Huddersfield Town 0-1 Nottingham Forest
MATCH STATISTICS
Forest (3-4-1-2): Brice Samba (Ethan Horvath 89’); Joe Worrall ©, Steve Cook, Scott McKenna; Djed Spence, Ryan Yates, James Garner, Jack Colback; Philip Zinckernagel (Max Lowe 74’); Brennan Johnson, Keinan Davis (Sam Surridge 66’)
Substitutes not used: Tobias Figueiredo, Cafu, Joe Lolley, Alex Mighten
Bookings: Philip Zinckernagel (55’)
Goals: Colwill own goal (43’)
Huddersfield Town (3-4-3): Lee Nichols, Tom Lees, Naby Sarr (Jon Russell 57’), Levi Colwill; Pipa, Jonathan Hogg ©, Lewis O’Brien, Harry Toffolo; Danel Sinani (Duane Holmes 66’), Danny Ward (Jordan Rhodes 66’), Sorba Thomas
Substitutes not used: Jamal Blackman, Matthew Pearson, Oliver Turton, Faustino Anjorin
Bookings: Harry Toffolo (73’)
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Attendance: 80,019
Possession: 47-53
Shots: 5-9
On target: 0-2
Corners: 4-2