The magic of the FA Cup never fails to disappoint. The quarter final saw the last remaining non-Premier League team in Nottingham Forest welcoming high-flying Liverpool to the City Ground. A fixture with a lot of history, it became the next instalment in our ‘Framed’ series.
Nottingham Forest v Liverpool in the FA Cup is a fixture that holds a great deal of weight following the tragic events of Hillsborough in 1989. The memories live on, and there’s a great amount of respect between these two great footballing institutions, felt throughout both sets of fans and realised with the 97 blocked seats, reserved for those that were not able to be at the game. And with their memory living on, the stage was set for this latest encounter. This was a proper FA Cup tie and no mistake.
The match itself played out as any cup tie should, with chances at both ends, controversies, plenty of passion and one team walking away victorious at the end of it all, progressing to a semi final against Manchester City. And but for a host of missed opportunities and spurned chances, it would’ve been the Championship side. As it was though, the game at the very top is all about fine margins, and Diogo Jota was adjudged to have been onside when he guided Kostas Tsimikas’s sumptuous cross into the back of Ethan Horvath’s net. And that was that. Dreams of the Forest faithful crushed as the Reds go marching on.
Photography by Duncan Elliott for SoccerBible.
See more of Duncan's work centred around the FA Cup here.