Wrexham (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Wrexham’s fairytale ride under Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney continued as they knocked Premier League Nottingham Forest out of the FA Cup with a dramatic 4-3 penalty shootout win on Friday. Second-tier side Wrexham were 3-1 up with 14 minutes left of normal time in a third-round tie at their Racecourse Ground in north Wales. But a Callum Hudson-Odoi double, including an 89th-minute equaliser, saw Forest pull back to 3-3.
With replays no longer a feature of the FA Cup, the teams could not be separated in extra time. Wrexham goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo then provided heroics worthy of a blockbuster movie finale when he sealed victory by diving to his left to save Omari Hutchinson’s low spot-kick. “It was a rollercoaster game,” Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson told TNT Sports. “The late goal knocked the stuffing out of us a bit…We had to rally the troops a bit. The whole ground had gone flat.” Reflecting on the shootout, he added: “I didn’t watch it. I was staring at the crowd and waiting for their reaction…Arthur has produced the save and will be the hero and rightly so.”
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Earlier, two goals in four minutes late in the first half from Liberato Cacace and Oliver Rathbone gave Wrexham a 2-0 lead. Forest, however, pulled a goal back in the 64th minute through a header from Igor Jesus. Wrexham captain Dominic Hyam restored his side’s two-goal advantage with a 74th-minute header, only for Forest to make it 3-2 just two minutes later when Hudson-Odoi scored from close range. And with just a minute of normal time left, Hudson-Odoi levelled with a sublime volley over Okonkwo.
Welsh club Wrexham, who play in English competitions, have enjoyed three successive promotions since Reynolds and McElhenney bought the club in 2021. Wrexham, on a run of four successive Championship wins, kicked off against a much-changed Forest, with the priority for Sean Dyche’s men avoiding relegation from the lucrative top flight.
In Friday’s other ties, League One Wigan, shock winners of the 2013 FA Cup, won 1-0 away to Championship play-off hopefuls Preston, with Port Vale—bottom of the third tier—beating fourth division Fleetwood by the same scoreline. Oxford, battling to avoid relegation from the Championship, needed penalties to see off Milton Keynes Dons 4-3 on penalties after being held to a 1-1 draw by the League Two side.
The third round of the FA Cup is the stage where teams from the Premier League and Championship enter the world’s oldest senior knockout football competition. FA Cup holders Crystal Palace are away to non-league Macclesfield on Saturday, when eight-time winners Tottenham Hotspur face Premier League rivals Aston Villa. Another all top-flight encounter is on Sunday when Manchester United face Brighton at Old Trafford in a repeat of the 1983 final that United won following a replay. Premier League leaders Arsenal are away to Championship strugglers Portsmouth on Sunday.
© 2024 AFP
